


The Innocence of a Hero

by GrimReader



Category: D.Gray-man, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: A bit twisted Midoriya Izuku, Angst, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bad Parenting, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, But still has powers, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, M/M, Midoriya Izuku is Bad at Feelings, Midoriya Izuku is a conniving little shit, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible dekubowl?, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-09-23 10:41:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17078804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimReader/pseuds/GrimReader
Summary: Midoriya Izuku is quirkless but he has his innocence with him to help save people.However, who will save Izuku from himself?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know I have another WIP but this has been bugging me for days. I just have to get this out of my head.
> 
> Enjoy ~ :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 4.30.19
> 
> Lol I'm having writer's block for my other fic so I'm fixing this mess of a fix haha.
> 
> Please enjoy ~

Midoriya Izuku was a good child. He was cheerful, helpful and always a delight to be with. He was a good kid. 

  


“If only you weren’t quirkless.”

  


Midoriya Hisashi saw the moment the kid’s heart broke and those bright green eyes dulled even more with the overwhelming emotions of betrayal, grief and sorrow. It was concerning to see those things within a child so young but it couldn’t be helped. He was quirkless.

  


“E-eh?” The kid started with a watery smile. “Bu-but dad I have a–”

  


*SLAP!*

  


Hisashi looked at the eight-year-old lying on the floor.

  


“You’re still on about that? I thought your mom already had a talk about you and ‘lying’?” Hisashi rolled his eyes.

  


The kid looked up with a reddening cheek and teary eyes.

  


“Dad... do you hate me?”

  


Hisashi raised his brow. He carefully took in the sight of the silently crying child in front of him. As expected, Hisashi felt no affection. But even so, he kneeled in front of the boy who was slowly sitting up until they were seeing eye to eye. He sighed and gently put his hand on the boy’s head patting it slowly.

  


“I don’t hate you Izuku.” Those green eyes stared at him intently, waiting for the rest of the words the kid knew would surely come. Hisashi felt a small smile tug at his lips and he continued. “Hating you would imply that I loved you at some point in the past.”

  


Hisashi put his hands under the kid’s arms to pull him up into standing and dusted his shorts.

  


“I didn’t, so I could never hate you Izuku. What I feel towards you, that’s called apathy.” He looked at the heartbroken kid staring back at him one last time before uttering his last words. “It’s also called the greatest kindness you could ever give someone else.”

  


Heavy silence filled the air. The kid couldn’t keep looking at him and turned his head to the floor with his small clenched fists trembling at his sides. Looking at the pitiful child, Hisashi had a sudden urge to tell him something. So he leaned down and whispered his thoughts to the kid.

  


The expression he gave Hisashi after he was finished was priceless and he would have revelled at it more if not for his wife’s arrival.

  


“Oh! So you two were here all this time!” Inko’s worrying voice resounded in the young kid’s room. Hisashi turned to her with a small smile.

  


“Sorry for not helping pack my own stuff.” Inko just shook her head stubbornly and replied with a shaky smile.

  


“It’s fine. I wouldn’t be able to take care of you anymore when you go overseas so I’m glad to do it one last time.” Inko held back her tears and clenched her dress with both her hands.

  


Hisashi went to his wife and hugged her close. He heard her sniffle and pulled back after a few seconds and smiled at her.

  


“You say it like I’ll never come back again.” He chuckled when Inko began spluttering and stopped her with a soft chaste kiss.

  


“Let’s go. I might be late for my flight.” He said while hugging her close. He felt Inko melt into the embrace.

  


“Okay. Let me just get Izuku dressed –”

  


“Oh, that won’t be necessary. He won’t be coming with us to the airport.” Hisashi continued before Inko could question him.

  


“We’ve already had a father and son talk and seeing me off in the airport would just hurt us more.”

  


Inko turned to the boy and asked him if he was really okay with it. It took a couple of seconds for the kid to nod hesitantly. Inko also seemed torn as to what to do but Hisashi ignored it and started walking to the door.

  


“I’ll head out first and carry my things to the car.”

  


Hisashi wasn’t the least bit curious about the conversation his wife and the kid had inside the All Might infested room and started carrying his luggage down to the Bakugou family and their car to accompany Hisashi to the airport.

  


They asked about Inko and the kid and Hisashi gave them a small smile and just told them that Inko was following shortly and Izuku wasn’t coming with them. They started asking him questions but thankfully Inko came down and answered them. They let the Bakugou kid stay at their house even though it was obvious that he’d rather be anywhere than with the green eyed kid. Hisashi could honestly sympathize.

  


They were now in front of the airport with Inko bawling as usual and the Bakugou couple standing supportively behind them. Hisashi stroked her hair and whispered how much he’ll miss her and how he promises to always keep in touch. When they finally had to reluctantly let go of each other, Hisashi bid his wife and his friends goodbye with a small smile.

  


When he was sitting inside the plane, he took a look out the window to see the white clouds and wide sky out before him. Hisashi then heaved a sigh of relief when the fact that he was leaving the country was finally absorbed in his mind.

  


He’d never need to tolerate that disgusting presence all the time. He never understood how no one but he and the Bakugou kid could see that condescending useless little shit for how he really is.

  


He muttered under his breath “Good riddance.”

  


...

  


It’s been four years since Hisashi left Inko and their son Izuku for his work overseas and he hasn’t come back home even once. His financial support was still ever present but with the different excuses that he gave her for the holidays and the decreasing number of calls, Inko couldn’t help but feel lonely.

  


It also didn’t help that her son always clammed up whenever his father was brought up and it’s even worse whenever Hisashi did call. Izuku would always find reasons to be out as late as he can and even going as far as feigning an illness and locking himself up in his room if his dad called during the weekends when Izuku had no prior plans outside. In fact, Izuku was so upset with Hisashi leaving that he spent a month in his room ignoring everything and started eating in his room and hiding himself from Inko as much as he can. They only reconciled when Izuku asked Inko to buy him a red shoe and a bunch or dark red socks.

  


Inko kind of expected Izuku to be hurt with his father leaving them but she couldn’t help but feel sad that her twelve-year-old son couldn’t be mature enough to understand his father’s situation. It may have been asking a bit much if it was any other child but her Izuku was special. Even with his quirklessness, he’s smart and is calm and collected most of the time especially when compared to his peers.

  


There was a time when he made himself believe that he had a quirk when the tests and lack of evidence for any kind of quirk said otherwise. He also did some unusual things that didn’t really make any sense and some were outright dangerous but when Hisashi left, Izuku seemed to have woken up from his childish delusions and slowly became the admirable mature kid that everyone adored despite his quirklessness.

  


“Izuku honey, come eat your breakfast!” She heard his footsteps when she was preparing the table.

  


“Good morning Mom.” Came her son’s soft voice. She turned and smiled at him as they both sat down.

  


“Good morning Izuku. Are you excited for your first day in middle school?” Her giddy smile was reciprocated with a small one from her angel.

  


“I’m excited enough, I guess.” He shrugged and Inko giggled a little. She never mentioned it to her son for the possibility of upsetting him but he’s really starting to resemble Hisashi’s mannerisms. Especially with the way they tend to give small smiles as their default expressions for everything and especially when they want to mask their emotions.

  


Inko’s eyes went to her son’s gloved hands holding the spoon and fork and she couldn’t help but frown at the offensive piece of black reddish cloth. He started wearing it a month after Hisashi left and she hasn’t been able to make Izuku take it off since then. 

  


It looked thin enough for people to not get uncomfortable when her son wore it during the summer and it even looked like it was made with great materials. Inko didn’t know where it came from. And the fact that Izuku wouldn’t tell her anything and that she has never seen his bare hands for years have fuelled many heated arguments between them. Well, as heated as Inko could manage and her son was always polite and never raised his voice so their arguments were lukewarm at best. Izuku just refused to take off those gloves ever, even when he was asleep. Actually, the day she went back from buying him the red shoe he loves so much was the day she saw him wearing those gloves. It also marked the day Izuku stopped hiding in his room and eating alone.

  
  


At first, it brought her concern that Izuku may be reverting to having delusions of a quirk or something similar to that but when he started applying light eyeliner and started wearing more black, white and red –  _ Dark red Mom, there’s a difference _ . Inko concluded that her son was going through some phase that he would surely regret when he grows older. She was sure her boy has been mingling with some kind of crowd, maybe in the internet, and she was almost certain that her son was hiding, God forbid,  _ tattoos  _ on his hands since he started staying out late after coming out of his mini reclusion.

  


Izuku may have seemed too young for things like that but Inko believed that the youth grew up a bit faster every generation and she was just thankful that her son wasn’t back to deceiving himself about having a quirk. 

  


That was seriously the most heartbreaking time of her life. Seeing her quirkless son excitedly talk about a quirk that was clearly made up, when he woke up from an accident was tough for her as a mother. The kids at school and their neighbours started rumours saying her son was retarded and had some mental health issues. Her son was already quirkless and they still wanted to paint more targets at his back. It was when Inko begged Izuku to stop talking about his quirk with anyone almost every night. They also had daily talks about honesty and even then, Izuku wouldn’t stop and assert that he was telling the truth.

  


When it became too much, Inko cried to her son and begged him to lie. She told him that lying for the good of people was okay and that lying about his quirk won’t make her cry again. She wasn’t proud of what she said and did that night but it worked. Izuku would only talk about his ‘quirk’ inside the house and as time passed, the instances he talked about it lessened. He became more cheerful and overall delightful child. The neighbourhood warmed up to them again and brushed up Izuku’s behaviour with being young and no one ever blamed her and Hisashi’s genes or their parenting for their son’s possible deficiencies. Being quirkless was hard enough but that could be blamed to the quirk skipping generations or a mutation and not to the parents which Inko was thankful for.

  


He really stopped talking about his quirk altogether when Hisahi left but Izuku also became less childish and more polite and distant. That was when he really started resembling his dad.

  


“Thanks for the food.” She lifted her head and saw him standing up and taking his plate and utensils to the sink.

  


“Do you want me to take you to school?” She heard a short snort from the sink and saw her son turn around with a small smile.

  


“I’d like to but it’s embarrassing as hell.” Inko raised her brow at the phrase and how son blushed appropriately, bowing his head apologetically. She softened her expression, stood up and enclosed her son in a tight hug.

  


“Look at you, using big boy words.” She heard her son try to splutter a response but she continued. “Have fun today and if anyone bothers you, talk to the teachers okay?”

  


She pulled back and saw Izuku look up at her with that small smile of his. “Of course Mom.”

  


She saw Izuku pull up his grey backpack and went to the door to put on his shoes and his favourite red shoes with the red socks that he always wears. She smiled at her growing son’s back and fondly said.

  


“I love you Izuku.”

  


She saw his shoulders tense a bit but after a couple of seconds he replied with a silent “Me too.”

  


Inko suppressed a giggle. Her son was starting to feel embarrassed saying affectionate things. It was a bit lonely but Izuku was growing up, so it couldn’t be helped. She went with her day feeling light and happy.

  


...

  


Midoriya Izuku is not an ordinary child.

  


It started when he was four years old. When he heard the doctor tell him “It’s impossible. You should give up. You’re quirkless.” He felt the pity, disgust and sneers directed at him. He didn’t know what those negative feelings were really called at that time but Izuku knew even at that age that he wasn’t being treated the same way as everyone else. He wasn’t seen the same way as the other kids.

  


Then the bullying started. His friends weren’t his friends anymore. Friends didn’t hurt friends until they cry. They didn’t make their skin purple that hurts when touched. Friends don’t act like villains.

  


_ Villain. _

  


His closest friend’s face came to his mind. But Izuku shook his head profusely 

  


_ No Kacchan isn’t a villain. Kacchan’s going to be the number one hero! And I’m gonna help him by rescuing many people. _

  


“Like All Might!” Izuku always liked to pump himself up like that. Everything changed after they went to that mean doctor. But Izuku didn’t give up his dream of being a hero. After all, he has a quirk. He wasn’t lying like what everyone was saying. He also wasn’t deliciounal –  _ delusional _ , a voice that sounded like his Mom said in his head.

  


At seven years old, even though Izuku has two toe joints and has no quirk to show anyone, Izuku wasn’t quirkless. The light feeling in his body told him that he had something inside him.

  


He was also certain that his memory of ‘that day’ wasn’t a dream. Izuku remembered running into the forest to escape Kacchan and his other playmates and hiding curled up under one of the bigger trees when he heard a beautiful sound.

  


It was his first time hearing something like it. The sound didn’t go to his ears but directly at his head and whole body making him shake. Izuku was scared but he was curious at the same time.

  


It felt like he was in a daze and all he wanted to do was go to where that sound was coming from. Izuku couldn’t remember how long he was walking in circles inside the forest but his feet led him to the river where Kacchan fell and Izuku saw something was floating by the rocks.

  


Izuku wasted no time at running to that weird something. It was small, the size of Izuku’s six-year-old fist. It was pure white and looked like a little bird. Although this bird had a rectangular body and had no head. Its wings also looked nothing like the birds in the park. It looked soft and the beautiful white color made Izuku think of an angel.

  


Izuku stopped when he was a foot from it and just stared and listened as the sound got louder inside his head.

  


The thing must have noticed him since it started slowly and feebly flying at his direction. It looked tired. Oddly, Izuku’s trembling body became stable and the feeling of fear from earlier disappeared. He looked at the thing getting closer to him and held out his hands. The sound got louder again.

  


The burning sensation when the thing landed on his palms startled Izuku but after being a punching bag for Kacchan’s fists and explosions, Izuku found the sensation almost soothing. Izuku brought the thing near his face and asked in a small voice.

  


“Are you okay?”

  


It didn’t answer him and began floating on his palms. However, it didn’t move and Izuku felt like he was being observed by that thing.

  


Then all of a sudden, the sound stopped. And when Izuku looked around it was pitch black. Even the ground he was standing on was gone. It looked like he was standing on nothing.

  


Before Izuku fully panicked, a voice resounded in his head.

  


“Why... why didn’t I die?” It was a deep eerie voice. It sounded wilted and sorrowful. The space around him then began to shake, like an earthquake but it didn’t last long. Izuku was dumbfounded.

  


Izuku looked around for the source of the voice and the shaking and his gaze fell at the thing floating on his palms.

  


“Hello?” Izuku felt the air vibrate within the space and he prepared to listen to what the voice was going to say.

  


“The holy war is over...” The voice started. “The heart I was supposed to protect is gone so why does a piece of me still live?” It groaned in agony. The feeling of betrayal pierced his heart but he still continued listening.

  


“I’ve been waiting for a thousand years but you still won’t answer me!” The space started to shake once again from the now booming voice. A moment of silence followed before the voice started again.

  


“I give up. I don’t need a will. I’ll be the tool I was meant to be...” Izuku then shivered when he felt an invisible gaze upon him.

  


“You will do human child.” Izuku’s shivering intensified. “You should feel honoured for the blessing I’m about to bestow upon you.” For a moment Izuku thought that he saw a white face adorned with cracks with two eyes a mouth with no nose but he blinked and it was gone.

  


“Hevlaska, you got what you want. I’m finally going to sleep so do your job one last time.” Slowly, silence overcame the space. The heavy presence was also gone.

  


Izuku looked intently at the thing in his hands. It was still floating but a wave of light was beginning to show from it.

  


Finally, Izuku felt another presence. This was as eerie as the one before but the voice that flowed into his head was soothing and calming. It reminded him a bit of his Mom.

  


“Midoriya Izuku... that’s your name correct?” Izuku was startled but nodded nonetheless.

  


“How... how about you ma’am? An–and where did the voice from be-before go?”

  


“My name is Hevlaska and the one before was called Apocryphos, who has just rescinded his sentience. We are beings that fought in a war that decided the fate of humanity itself.”

  


“Hu-humanity means everyone right, He–hebraska-san? And A–apoclipos-san ‘re–sinded his senshens’ what does that mean?” Izuku said as he analyzed the new words in his mind. Looking for the possible meanings from the books he’d read before.

  


Izuku felt a warm gaze upon him but the thing had no eyes so Izuku looked around the darkness and found nothing.

  


“Someone so young...” He heard the voice sigh. “Yes boy, the war involved the lives of every human being but only a few had the capability of fighting against the true enemy.” Izuku felt sadness from the voice so he didn’t ask more and just waited for the voice to continue.

  


“And Apocryphos was once something that only lived to protect something else. During the end of the war that something we called the ‘Heart’ was destroyed. We were supposed to follow but for some reason some pieces of us remained here in the world. To survive, we united as a single being with two minds but after a thousand years of searching for an answer, he seemed to have given up and decided to remove his own consciousness. Now, it’s just me in this body and–” The voice stopped when it heard a sob from Izuku who had tears and snot flowing down his face.

  


“Wha–what’s the matter?” The soothing voice enveloped his being and Izuku slowly calmed down. The sorrow and betrayal he felt from the voice before that filled his heart with remorse for the sad being had lessened.

  


“I–is *sniff* is Apo-san dead?” Silence followed his question but after a few moments the voice started again.

  


“No Izuku, he is not dead. He’s just sleeping right now and won’t wake up for a long long time.” Izuku sniffed and looked at the floating thing–  _ No her name is Heb– Hevlaska. _

  


Hevlaska continued. “He also said he’d... give you a gift. Do you know what it is?” Izuku shook his head. Hevlaska seemed reluctant to continue based from the thing floating in circles on his palm. But she started seconds later.

  


“Apocryphos is a being that can grant you power Izuku.” He was taken aback and he asked Hevlaska with wide eyes. “Po-power... like a quirk?! Apo-san can give me a quirk?!”

  


After that, Hevlaska proceeded to tell Izuku about the difference of a quirk to the power that Apocryphos can give him. Hevlaska also told him that it was the same power used by the one side of the holy war many many years ago.

  


“They were called Exorcists. For the power they possessed were said to be given by God himself.” Izuku couldn’t help himself and asked a question.

  


“Hev-san, is God real?”

  


She took a few seconds to respond but she said “It’s up to you boy to decide what you want to believe. It is not my place to tell you what is and what is not.” Izuku didn’t understand her but he remembered the words and stored it in his memory. Izuku nodded and asked another question.

  


“Apo-san’s power is for the exorcists. Are exorcists heroes Hev-san?” The question seemed to have caught Hevlaska off guard since it took her a long time before she answered.

  


“Those... They... Everyone sacrificed their youth, freedom and future for the sake of humanity. If that isn’t heroic then I don’t know what is.” Hevlaska finished with a wistful tone in her voice. Izuku looked at the thing floating in his hand with longing in his eyes.

  


“Hev-san, can I be a hero like them?”

  


There was no answer for a while and Izuku thought he wasn’t meant to be a hero but then a bright light blinded him.

  


The next few minutes changed Izuku’s life forever and when he woke up he was in the hospital with his Mom crying tears of relief beside him and his father soothing his Mom and offering Izuku a small smile.

  


But Izuku couldn’t really focus on anything else besides the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness.

  


_ “Midoriya Izuku, you can become a hero not with a quirk but with a power more mysterious than anything else, it’s called ‘‘Innocence’’” _

  


At the memory, Izuku couldn’t help but cry out to his parents.

  


“Mom! Dad! I’m not quirkless!”

  


...

  


Katsuki was fucking excited. He was now fourteen years old and the U.A exam is just a year away. He can’t wait to – “ **FUCK OFF, EXTRA!** ” He can’t wait to get out of this shit hole of a school.

  


He’ll be recognized as the number one at the top hero school and he’ll blast his way through the competition. He’ll – “ **GET OUT OF THE WAY TWO-BIT EXTRAS!** ”

  


Katsuki was finally able to get to his fucking classroom filled with the lame stepping stones. As he was making his way to his seat he looked at the freak sitting on the seat diagonally behind his own and glared.

  


The only person that didn’t conform to what Katsuki knows about the world.

  


He’s weak but his eyes held strong determination.

  


He’s useless but he carries himself with assurance.

  


He says he’s fucking quirkless but everything around him feels like the deep ocean, heavy, Calm, and dark. And as always he felt something wrong with the piece of shit.

  


“Deku.” Katsuki couldn’t help but curse the name under his breath.

  


The bastard must have heard him since he looked up from his notes and turned to him. His gloved hand went up to a small wave. His eyes remained clear but the corners of his lips turned into a small smirk.

  


“Good morning Kacchan.”

  


It was another day of the freak looking down on him. Katsuki ignored the boy and went to sit loudly and after a moment the fucking teacher came in and started the lesson.

  


When the classes for the morning ended and lunch break made its presence known, everyone but Katsuki and the freak went out of the room. His plain face and quirklessness fooled everyone into thinking that he was just some weird honor student but Katsuki wasn’t like everyone else.

  


He blocked the freak’s way to the door and crossed his arms on his chest.

  


The freak just looked at him with a raised brow and after a couple of seconds sighed.

  


“Still not giving up Kacchan?”

  


Katsuki scoffed at this. “Stop acting high and mighty, Deku. You telling me what your quirk is or nah?”

  


Deku just looked him in the eyes and said “I can make fire with my fart Kacchan.”

  


Katsuki expected some bullshit answer as always but the vein that popped in his temple was still inevitable. He stepped forward and grabbed the freak by the collar and lifted it to make Deku stand on his tiptoes. The freak said nothing and just watched him.

  


“Stop testing my patience useless piece of shit. I won’t always just stop with a threat.” He spat as he finally pushed the freak back, making him stumble into some of the tables.

  


He was about to go out of the door when he heard a short chuckle from the freak.

  


“Just because you’ve stopped with the physical abuse for three years doesn’t make my childhood experience disappear Kachhan. Your ways just changed in middle school since you know the adults won’t be as tolerant as we get older.”

  


Katsuki quickly glared at useless fucker that was finally talking back with something that isn’t monotone or a quip. Deku had a frown and his eyes became a slightest bit sharp. Then Katsuki remembered what it was today.

  


_ It’s the day Uncle Hisashi left. _

  


It was also the day Katsuki felt that eerie presence around the freak. Katsuki had always remembered that day since it was also the first time he saw someone cry without shedding a single tear.

  


“You’ve always hated me for saying that I have a quirk and halfway through middle school you threaten me everyday to tell you about my fucking quirk.” Katsuki became wide-eyed when he heard the freak curse for the first time ever. “The one acting high and mighty isn’t me Kacchan.” Deku picked up his bag and speed walked to the other door in the room. His gloved hand was holding the door when he turned to Katsuki. “You should look in the mirror to know who it is.” The fucker had the nerve to slam the door.

  


Katsuki gritted his teeth as he ate his lunch with his minions. He didn’t pay any attention to the garbage they were talking about but he was thinking about the earlier interaction. He also berated himself for confronting Deku on this specific day.

  


Katsuki remembered the countless lectures he received from his parents to never pick on Deku on the day his Dad left since that was a very sensitive topic to the freak. It’s not that Katsuki ever pitied Deku, it’s just that he decided to give Deku some peace only on this day. Katsuki blamed the old hag for telling him it was Wednesday today when it was clearly Thursday. Katsuki had no time to double check earlier since he was busy listening in class.

  


_ Shit! _

  


His mind wandered back to the memory of this day six years ago.

  


Katsuki stomped his way up the freak’s house and shouted when he got inside.

  


“FUCKING DEKU GET OUT HERE AND SERVE ME COLA!”

  


When no one responded to his call, Katsuki clicked his tongue and stomped all the way to the freak’s room and forcefully opened the door.

  


“HEY DEKU I WAS CALL–” Katsuki abruptly stopped when he saw Deku sitting on the floor. He was looking at the door where Katsuki stood but it didn’t seem like he was really looking at him. It was like he was just staring into space.

  


However, it was the expression on his face that made Katsuki unable to move. Katsuki felt his chest tighten and felt an urge to bury the freak in his arms. Katsuki felt his eyes water and lips tremble and he didn’t know why.

  


It was a terrifying experience to an eight-year-old kid so Katsuki did the most natural thing he could do. He ran away from the freak and didn’t come out the rest of the day even when the hag was scolding him for leaving Deku behind. Katsuki cried himself to sleep that night. And since then he felt that presence stronger than ever.

  


Katsuki was sure that what happened to him that day was because of a quirk and he was ready to confront the freak about it. However since Uncle Hisashi left, Deku didn’t come out for a month and when he returned, he denied having any kind of quirk and started wearing those creepy as fuck gloves.

  


Katsuki looked once again at the old table in the cafeteria that the freak always sat at and clicked his tongue when he saw no one.

  


“Fucking Deku.”

  


...

  


Izuku went home that day feeling tired, more than usual.

  


He silently ate dinner with his Mom and talked about his day. He smiled and told her how great his classes were. Izuku rubbed his socked foot together at the usual lie he told his mother. He’s now inside his room and studying his notes when he remembered his outburst earlier that day.

  


“Ahhhhh idiot.” Izuku held his face with his gloved hands.

  


_ Why did I have to be that worked up with Kacchan? Isn’t it a routine already? Whhyyy? _

  


Izuku knew the answer but he just wanted to wallow in his feigned ignorance a little longer. After a few minutes of agonizing over his life choices, Izuku heaved a deep sigh.

  


“Don’t think about it. Forget it. Kacchan will forget it ever happened and things will continue as usual.” Izuku encouraged himself and resumed reading. It wasn’t anything academic. Izuku was just mindlessly reading the news online on his desktop, minding the names and faces of the villains caught by the police or at large. Izuku was aiming to be a hero, remembering names and faces were nothing compared to the physical training he’d started since turning thirteen.

  


Izuku still wasted a couple of minutes of wasting his time on the internet and when that couldn’t distract him anymore. He resorted to another strategy.

  


Every year during this day, the pain of that man’s words always reminded Izuku of how unwanted he is. It was hard but Izuku found a way to bury those memories. It was by remembering the best memories of his life. He didn’t think of his friends since he never had one to begin with and he couldn’t think of his Mom without the face of that man popping up like a poisonous mushroom. He remembered the day he met Apocryphos and Hevlaska. Granted, that was the first and last day he saw –  _ heard,  _ a sarcacastic voice that sounded like his own corrected him in his head – them. Even though it was the first and last day he heard them, it was still the happiest memory he had.

  


He remembered Hevlaska telling him her reluctance to give Izuku the ‘‘Innocence’’ since he was so young. He also remembered the white thing floating in his hands melt into something that was like floating blood. It didn’t scare him as much as it should but instead he was fascinated with the pull that he felt with the floating liquid.

  


Izuku thought that he may have heard a gasp from Hevlaska but then his head was overtaken with the desire to consume the liquid. 

  


So he did.

  


He remembered hearing Hevlaska’s alarmed shout for him to stop but it was too late. And when he drank all of it, Izuku felt an indescribable heat on his body and as quickly as he felt that burning sensation, it was gone without a trace.

  


Then a mass of light came to Izuku’s sight. He remembered hearing Hevlaska’s voice from it asking Izuku how he felt and if he noticed anything abnormal with his body. When he said that he didn’t feel any different except for the indescribable heat he after drinking the blood-like liquid, Hevlaska said she needed to examine him with that alarmed tone again. Feeling a bit scared Izuku asked her to examine him.

  


The mass of light them started to cover him all over. Izuku felt pleasantly warm and light. Then he heard Hevlaska’s voice.

  


“2%...17%...35%...51%...77%...93%...100%... This is... How...? Such a young child having a hundred percent synchronization with the ‘Innocence’ is unheard of!”

  


Izuku didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing so he asked her. According to Hevlaska, only people of great compatibility with the essence of Innocence can get such a high synchronization and that was only possible with great exposure and experience with it. No one has ever gotten such a high synchronization rate at the first time. It was impossible.

  


He also learned that having more than a hundred synchronization was called a ‘Person of the Critical Point’ and someone who could have the position of General in the previous holy war. These Generals were powerful humans that served as both their vanguard and their final weapon against their true enemy. Izuku learned a lot that night however when it ended, Hevlaska and Apocryphos was nowhere to be found. He wanted to ask more questions since his Innocence didn’t appear immediately. Actually, it appeared almost a year later.

  


It was also a day he couldn’t forget. The day that that man left was the day his Innocence manifested itself. It was today.

  


“Happy birthday to you.” Izuku muttered with a small smile and Izuku felt his body heat up in response.

  


Izuku remembered another thing that Hevlaska said that night in his head  _ “Izuku, I’m sorry I didn’t notice but you have more–” _

  


“Izuku?” A knock then the sound of the door opening caught Izuku’s attention. He gave her a small smile. “Yes Mom?”

  


“Don’t stay up too late okay? I’m going to sleep.”

  


Izuku closed his notes and looked at her. “Of course. Good night Mom.”

  


She smiled at him. “Good night Izuku.”

  


When Izuku was sure that his Mom went to her room, he stood up from his study chair and locked the door. He then went back and took a seat but instead of opening his notes he lifted his right hand.

  


**“Innocence Invocate: Bloody Archives”**

  


The glove that was covering his right hand began to melt and turn into liquid that floated in front of him. Then it began to take the shape of a thick book that was bloody red. The design on the cover made it look ancient especially with the different shapes and signs that adorned it. At the center of the cover of the book lied a black symbol of an eye with slits for pupils. The inside consisted of writings in red and the rest were blank. Izuku opened it turned to the last page he had written on.

  


Without the blood red glove, the small cross shaped wound on each of the pad of his fingertips could easily be seen. He held out his pointing finger and put it on a leaf of the book. A steady and thin stream of blood slowly seeped from the cross shape wound and Izuku started to write without a hint of pain on his face. It was inconvenient that he could only write in his Bloody Archives with his blood but Izuku got used to it a long time ago and he started to write his daily notes.

  


His mind briefly wandered to his thought earlier. He remembered Hevlaska’s worried voice.

  


_ “Izuku I’m sorry I didn’t notice but you have more than one Innocence. It shouldn’t be possible but the ones that were left with me are also in your body now. I don’t know how that would affect your invocation and compatibility but I just hope you’d be prepared. Innocence that are consumed would come out of an exorcist’s body as blood from a permanent cross-shaped stigmata scars until it has enough amount to transform into an item you can wear or always keep with you and that would the material vessel of your Innocence. But that would be a painful and process and with three Innocence within you, I don’t know what would happen.” _

  


Izuku didn’t understand what she meant at that time but the incredible heat that emanated from his left gloved hand and his feet made what Hevlaska said that night make sense.

  


Izuku smiled to himself.

  


_ Innocence is such a warm existence. _

  
After that thought, Izuku continued note taking into the night. The Innocence inside his body making him feel especially warm on a day that always makes Izuku’s blood run cold with bad memories.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, kudos and bookmark if you liked it! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revised 4.30.19
> 
> I hope this isn't a mess hahaha
> 
> Again, I'm suffering thru a writer's block for my other fic so I'm writing and fixing this in the meantime.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

At nine years old, Izuku had already known the basics of Bloody Archives. He was still uncomfortable with using his blood as ink but Izuku endured though.

  


Bloody Archives really did suit Izuku very much. It wasn’t flashy like Kacchan’s explosions but it gave Izuku the treasure that is information. Once he has written the name of a person inside his Bloody Archives while thinking of their face, Izuku’s hand would feel possessed and begin to write all the relevant information about them. Page after page and Izuku wouldn’t be able to stop until all the information has been written. When it first manifested, the general details of his Innocence came flooding in his mind and Izuku only needed trial and error to know the specifics, alternative uses and limits of his Innocence. What he generally knew was that he needed to write a person’s name while thinking of their face for it to work.

  


Izuku’s first try was ‘All Might’ but he found out that a hero name wasn’t accepted by his Bloody Archives. He also tested it on other Heroes and the results were the same. Next, he tried writing ‘Kacchan’ but nothing happened so nicknames were out. So finally he wrote ‘Katsuki Bakugou’ and Izuku nearly died of blood loss. 

  


He wrote almost twenty pages and he was only on Kacchan’s life from his birth to six years old. Izuku only came out alive by undoing his invocation when he felt like he was going to pass out. However when his Bloody Archives became a glove, Izuku instantly felt better. It was like all the blood he lost was a figment of his imagination. Izuku wasn’t sure of the real reason behind it but he supposed that the Innocence wouldn’t let its host die. However, even when he undid the invocation and avoided the consequences of blood loss, he still felt exhausted and like he was really about to die. In the beginning, Izuku was forced to sleep for six hours after writing, so he resorted to only writing at night before he went to sleep because he didn’t want anyone to have any unnecessary worry towards his health.

  


After many days of thinking of how he would make his Bloody Archives more effective, Izuku tried having an outline of the specific information he would like to have.

  


Before writing Kacchan’s name again, Izuku thought of something simple.

  


**QUIRK DESCRIPTION:**

**STRENGTHS:**

**WEAKNESSES:**

**POSSIBLE WAYS FOR IMPROVEMENT:**

  


The quirk description only took one page but the strengths and weaknesses took up three pages in total and the possible ways for improvement was four pages. Izuku felt less tired afterwards so he had the opportunity to read what he had written this time. Izuku wasn’t able to read the Bloody Archives while he was using its powers so he was usually only able to read its contents afters sleeping for six hours. The new method not only saved him energy but also time to study what he had written.

  


Izuku noticed that even though he wasn’t in control of what he was writing, it was all written from Izuku’s perspective. One line on Weaknesses read that ‘Kacchan seems to hate cooperation and think highly of himself. He’s easily provoked and lets his emotions control him so he would be easy to manipulate with the right words and good acting skills.’

  


Izuku barely contained his laugh since  _ Oh my God, Kacchan’s going to kill me if he reads this. Well, he already hates me so who gives a fuck? _

  


Izuku realized later on that the writing on his Bloody Archives not only used his perspective but also the format Izuku used for his observation notes, only this one was more objective and direct to the point.

  


He also observed that as he grew up, the tone of the writing matured, the vocabulary expanded and also became more in depth. Izuku then concluded that the quality of his entries on Bloody Archives still depended on his overall knowledge. So Izuku started reading more to expand his vocabulary and began studying the art and science of correct reasoning to make his notes easier to read. It took months but there were indeed improvements on his Bloody Archives’ entries. The thought became clearer, flowed smoother and didn’t beat around the bush as much.

  


Logic then became Izuku’s second favourite subject to read besides quirk studies and heroics which were tied in first place. It was months after this that he discovered another facet of Bloody Archives, the Infinite Scripture. 

  


When it happened, Izuku was getting tired mentally and physically of reading his notes after writing them and feeling so fatigued but he also didn’t want to wait six hours before finally being able to read them. It was by then that two words came to Izuku’s mind. He looked at the blood red book he had on his table and uttered the words ‘ **Infinite Scripture** ’ and then the book floated a few inches and red light covered the room. Izuku managed to cover his shriek but he gaped like a fish when he saw that dozens of pages were being ripped from the book. Izuku was starting to panic when it ended and the three stacks of papers fell slowly to the floor. All three were as high as Izuku’s nine and a half-year-old self and maybe even higher. 

  


He skimmed through the papers and saw everything he had ever written on his Bloody Archives in hard copy form, from Kacchan to his classmates, teachers, his mom and basically almost everyone in the neighbourhood. 

  


_ Even my journal entries are here! _

  


Those were the ones that had his own observations and even some personal stuff, like his feelings and what he had for lunch that day. Izuku was mortified but that quickly increased when he remembered his Archives. His trembling hands opened the book and Izuku he relieved to no end to see that not an entry was missing. He concluded that the entries were only copied and not taken away from the Archives. After coming down the initial shock, the possibilities that this ability created excited Izuku to no end.

  


That thought prompted months of rigorous studying and practicing with his Innocence and eating more foods that would make him healthier overall since when Izuku once tried using Bloody Archives when he was sick, the resulting entry was just plain shameful to read and not even mentioning the feeling of death Izuku had when he ran to the bathroom and began a puking spree for what felt like forever.

  


When Izuku felt satisfied with the progress he had with Bloody Archives, he then began to write notes about the people on the top ten most wanted by the police that both had a name and a picture available on the internet. He only got half of it but that included the number one villain in the list. Izuku knew that those villains were nowhere near the top of the villainous hierarchy since the truly scary villains were the ones that society doesn’t even know exist.

  


Izuku put that thought at the back of his head as he continued training and studying. 

  


Every now and then, Izuku would just space out and drown in the memories of the night he got the Innocence. It was when he was just laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling that the things they talked about that night resurfaces. Those thoughts made Izuku cherish the warmth in his body even more.

  


Hevlaska said that she used to store Innocence in her body that didn’t have a host yet. She was also able to know the synchronization rate of the exorcists with their Innocence. And sometimes, Hevlaska was also able to see prophecies for some exorcists and what they would signify in the future.

  


Izuku remembered Hevlaska telling her about someone she prophesized as the ‘Destroyer of Time’ and also the other twists and turns that took place during the holy war.

  


Hevlaska also told Izuku that during the end of the holy war, some of those that survived gave her their Innocence and lived life with the burden of their comrades that sacrificed their lives to win the war. The earlier exorcists saw their job as only destroying the enemy and that saving lives wasn’t their priority but over time and after countless trials, their goal changed and they took a vow to win and protect those who were important to them.

  


That really resonated with Izuku and filled him with nothing but admiration towards those exorcists. That also made him question the concept of today’s pro heroes but Izuku decided to put that thought at the back of his head like all the other things that made his head hurt.

  


He was excited when he learned that one of the surviving exorcists came to settle down in Japan but considering that it happened during the time when quirks weren’t even discovered yet, Izuku gave up hope of ever meeting one of those heroes.

  


Hevlaska said that when the ‘Heart of the Innocence’ disappeared after the war, four Innocence remained. First was Hevlaska’s cube-like Innocence that served as a container, then two more Innocence that survived thanks to being stored within Hevlaska and Apocryphos who had never actually had an owner so his invoked form was never known.

  


Upon knowing that Hevlaska wasn’t a sentient Innocence like Apocryphos, Izuku excitedly asked her “Are you an exorcist Hev-san?!”

  


Hevlaska said that she remained on the sideline and never really appeared on the battlefield so she didn’t consider herself a true exorcist. Of course, Izuku disagreed vehemently and said that he was sure everyone was thankful for her support.

  


_ “Everyone needs support Hev-san!”  _ Izuku remembered exclaiming passionately and he remembered hearing Hevlaska’s soft chuckle.

  


...

  


“Izuku hun, breakfast is ready!” Fourteen year old Izuku slowly woke up from his slumber.

  


After waking up and eating breakfast with his mother, Izuku changed into his uniform and went to school.

  


He was one of the earliest people to go to class and he just sat in his seat while reading the news online. When Kacchan came, Izuku greeted him a good morning and received a “Shut up and die”. Izuku couldn’t help but smile because Kacchan acted like nothing unusual happened yesterday.

  


Izuku was aware that the blond didn’t do it to make Izuku feel better. It was more likely that Kacchan didn’t dwell on it to save himself from reflecting on his actions. But Izuku chose to indulge in his feigned ignorance once again. 

  


_ Maybe Kacchan’s becoming a good person. _

  


Izuku couldn’t help but scoff at the thought.

  


_ That’s enough kidding around for today.  _ With that thought, Izuku went through his day the same as always. He took notes, ate his lunch and walked out of school in peace.

  


It was late in the afternoon and Izuku should be heading home after a day of school but as always, he sent his mother a text saying he’ll be out late. He walked until he was at the forest near the park. He walked in circles until he was under the same big tree he hid under all those years ago.

  


He sat down on the grassy ground and lifted his right hand. He briefly listened for anything around him and after hearing nothing but the swaying of the branches in the wind, Izuku uttered the following words.

  


“ **Innocence Invocate: Bloody Archives** ”

  


Once again, his right hand glove melted and turned into an ancient looking bloody red book. The eye in the center looked at Izuku like it knew everything.

  


Instead of opening it, Izuku closed his eyes and concentrated.

  


“ **Bloody Archives: Infinite Scripture** ”

  


The book then opened and started glowing. The color of blood covered Izuku’s vision. Then slowly, pages from the book started ripping itself from it, making a neat stack of paper float above the book. The once red writing became ink black when it came out of the book making Izuku smile. The handwriting also changed and looked like it was encoded.

  


_ A great improvement from when it looked exactly like my handwriting. _

  


It was as thick as two notebooks and Izuku carefully took the papers, put it in an envelope and stored it inside his bag.

  


He undid the invocation of Bloody Archives and leisurely went out of the forest and walked towards the station. He got on a train and browsed the news as he waited to go to his destination. When he got off, Izuku quickly walked until he saw a building where police officers went in and out.

  


Izuku prepared his face when he ran towards the building. The officers standing by the door saw him approaching and waved to him.

  


“Hey Izukun!” Izuku smiled brightly at the tall and burly man as he approached.

  


“Hello sir! Is Nao-nii in the usual room?” The man looked at Izuku’s enthusiastic – Izuku sure hopes it looked that way – eyes and let out a big laugh before nodding.

  


“You’re still asking him to let you into the police force?” 

  


Izuku made his face pout a bit and glared childishly – Izuku internally cringes – at the laughing man. “Of course I am. I haven’t stopped for a year you think I’m giving up any time soon?”

  


The man laughed once again and fondly patted his head.

  


“Nope. At this point, we’re just betting on whether Tsukauchi would crack and promise you a spot in the police force.” Izuku laughed happily at this. The man continued.

  


“You’re really smart for your age and after going to the martial arts lessons we recommended, you’re starting to look more and more dependable. It’s been almost a year right? You just turned fourteen if I remember correctly.” The man put a finger on his chin. Izuku scoffed.

  


“Well, of course you’re not sure. You weren’t even here for my birthday party.” Izuku crossed his arms on his chest. The man just laughed.

  


“Mind you I was out undercover that night little officer. And I thought the monotone themed All Might shirt made up for it?” The man said with a teasing tone in his voice.

  


Izuku stuck out his tongue and ran away from the man and into the building. He looked back and waved his gloved hand at the man standing at the door.

  


“I know that, I’m just milking that cow for at least a few more months.” The man may have retorted but Izuku turned to a corner and continued walking till he was at the interrogation room 1C.

  


“Nao-nii, please open the door.” Izuku smiled enthusiastically at the passing officers and looked up when the door opened. Tsukakuchi looked at his bright and innocent look, sighed and led him inside. They sat across from each other and sighed again before starting.

  


“I’d really appreciate it if you stop acting like that Izuku-kun.”

  


Izuku rolled his eyes and took out the paper he got from Bloody Archives earlier and handed it to him. Tsukauchi took it and looked it over.

  


“I’ve been helping you out for a year now and you still haven’t stopped asking me that. You know I can’t crush the people’s image of young innocent me Tsukauchi-san.”

  


Tsukauchi sighed with the usual hint of resignation before he smiled at Izuku. “Yeah, they’d be devastated if they knew that a kid like you was a high profile vigilante that was arrested just a year ago.” He was reading through Izuku’s notes when he suddenly looked up. “What happened to ‘Nao-nii’?”

  


Izuku scoffed, ignored him and pointed at the papers at his hand. “That’s the information for most of the villains that’s been spotted for the last fifteen days. I’ve even added info on those that were already caught since they’re most likely unwilling to talk.”

  


Tsukauchi set the papers aside and smiled at him. “Again, I’d like to say thanks for your assistance.”

  


Izuku rolled his eyes. “You always say that.” Then he sneered at the Detective. “As if I have any choice.”

  


Tsukauchi didn’t seem to take offense to Izuku’s attitude since that was his normal behaviour when people who didn’t know his true identity weren’t around.

  


This kind of relationship between Izuku and the police force started just a year ago. Just like what Tsukauchi said, Izuku had been a high profile vigilante for two years before he was caught by none other than Tsukauchi who was assigned to his case.

  


Izuku liked to think of his time as a vigilante as a rebellious phase he had to go through and a phase that wasn’t particularly ashamed of. However, it also wasn’t as exciting as it sounded. Izuku didn’t have a massive following nor did he gather a large amount of money due to his barely legal activities.

  


Before it happened, what Izuku did was just gathering information on any villain and vigilante that was announced in the news and over the internet and then went to the page set up by the police where anyone can send an anonymous tip and used a dummy account just for that. Of course at first, his tips were looked over and ignored however Izuku persisted until one of the accounts that were regularly trolling on the page noticed Izuku’s tips and brought attention towards it.

  


Izuku knew it was only a matter of time before it happened. Izuku’s tips were very detailed and gave information that wasn’t released by the police and was confirmed to be accurate when the wanted individuals were arrested and details about them were told to the public.

  


When too much attention was brought to his dummy account, Izuku would make a new one and continue to send tips and changed to another account when the same thing happened until people realized that it was the same person sending legitimate tips and was using multiple dummy accounts. Izuku made it easy for them to recognize his tips by using a format that was the same with the entries of his Bloody Archives. That went for two months before Izuku received a message on one of his accounts from the police asking if it was possible for them to have a meeting with him.

  


Izuku laughed derisively at those messages (they were asking help from him, a quirkless kid and they didn’t even know it), ignored those and just continued making new accounts everyday and sending whatever info he had.

  


Of course, Izuku was still a naive child by then and didn’t expect that it wasn’t only the police that had its eyes on him.

  


Long story short, Izuku was kidnapped by a villain group that found him and tried to force him to use his information gathering ‘quirk’ for their own evil purposes and after a few days, he was saved by a vigilante group that also wanted him to use his ‘quirk’ but this time, for good purposes, as good as vigilantes can be.

  


Izuku agreed to them because first, he owed them. Second, they didn’t seem that bad. And third, the oldest of group of vigilantes was nineteen years old. It was a group without an adult so Izuku didn’t feel the usual extreme dislike he had for organizations with adults.

  


When Izuku went home, his mother was obviously worried about him but a good lie and some help from his new ‘friends’ made things easier for him. Izuku honestly had fun with being a vigilante, however that only lasted for two years before they he was caught by Tsukauchi and his team. Or if Izuku wanted to be more specific, he was left as a decoy for them to escape. Izuku just rolled with it and made the officers chase him in the opposite direction as the rest of the vigilantes through alleyways that Izuku knew like the back of his hand and made them think that the rest of the vigilantes was just ahead Izuku.

  


It was an operation that only a select few from the police force knew so when Izuku was caught, he able to keep his identity a secret by exchanging his freedom with certain conditions. Izuku obviously became someone who brought information about people that the police wanted information on. They also wanted the location of the rest of his companions but Izuku refused to say anything and just promised that if those people made any more appearances, which Izuku highly doubted, he would give them the information they wanted.

  


The officers were confused by Izuku’s loyalty and lack of desire for revenge for making him a decoy but they didn’t know what Izuku knew. No one did. His vigilante friends knew about his Bloody Archives but they didn’t know how his ‘quirk’ really worked and they believed him when he said that it only worked on people whose face and name Izuku hadn’t seen and heard in person. They were doubtful at first but when he wrote a villain’s name broadcasted in the news and seeing him writing information like he was possessed and then writing their name while thinking of Kacchan and his lackey’s faces and when nothing came out, his vigilante friends believed him. They didn’t know that when Izuku got home that day, he gathered information about them and knew things that he was sure none of them wanted other people to know. And with that, Izuku had a deeper understanding about them and felt closer to them.

  


So that night that they ‘forced’ Izuku to be their decoy when they were cornered, Izuku just acted betrayed and scared and then followed their order with a heartbroken expression. Izuku was aware that they wouldn’t be able to escape if he hadn’t done that and he was sure that out of all of them, Izuku had the highest chance of having the favour of the police and be able to bargain with them. So that was when Izuku prematurely retired from his vigilante career and became an informant for the police, with Tsukauchi as their representative.

  


As Izuku expected, no one of his vigilante friends came out after that. Of course, Izuku kept updated with their lives using Bloody Archives and was happy to know that they were fine. Well, as fine as people like them and Izuku can be.

  


And speaking of fine, Izuku discovered that he was eerily good at deceiving people. At first, he didn’t notice it since all he’s told were little lies or lies that he didn’t need to keep up for a long time. However, when he started his new role, he was amazed at how easy it was to make people believe that the reason he always went to the station was because he idolized a detective by the name of Tsukauchi Naomasa, to that person’s displeasure that Izuku enjoyed of course, and that little quirkless Izuku wanted to become just like him.

  


The meeting with Tsukauchi ended and Izuku went out of the station while greeting everyone who worked there and knew who he was.

  


It was easy to make people believe that he was a happy and bright young kid that didn’t let the general dislike of quirkless people affect him in his desire to help people. It was easy to make the adults like him, as much as he wanted to gag at their hypocrisy and fake show of admiration. He knew that they pitied him and looked down on him for being quirkless just like everybody else who didn’t know he had a ‘quirk’. And even those who looked at him with a hint of caution thought they knew Izuku’s ‘quirk’ didn’t even have the slightest idea of what Izuku really had. They knew about Bloody Archives but only as much as his vigilante friends knew, aka not so much.

  
Izuku was covered in a web of lies. He was then, and he always will be. And if there was anything that was true to Izuku that would be his desire to help people, his desire to be useful and needed... his desire to be someone people would call a hero the same way Hevlaska talked about those exorcists, the unsung heroes of humanity.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pleasant evening to everyone.
> 
> Lol I'm being weird again don't mind me.
> 
> So I've posted revisions of ch 1 and 2 so if you're starting here please go over from ch 1 first please.
> 
> I sound like an information desk personnel. Well, for my fics I am.
> 
> Aaanyway please enjoy :)

Izuku is a little shit. Izuku will never deny it. No matter how much he had learned to control himself and trained himself to be always calm and collected, Izuku wasn’t able to extinguish that tinge of childishness and want for attention that was always within him.

  


There was also the vindictiveness that stayed with him all these years for the hushed insults thrown his way and the isolation that is, Izuku confesses, partly his choice. Maybe that’s the reason why he acted the way he did when Kacchan cornered him before he was able to get out of the classroom.

  


Their oh-so lovely teacher announced prior to this encounter that Kacchan and himself were the only people that were applying to U.A. Izuku just stayed quiet the whole time but of course, Kacchan would see that as another insult to his mighty self and would see it proper to put Izuku in his place.

  


“We need to talk you piece of trash.”

  


Izuku looked up from his seat and saw that he was surrounded by Kacchan and his lackeys. The other students were also lingering in the sides to see how their mighty Kacchan would deal with the useless Deku.

  


Izuku remained quiet and waited for Kacchan to continue. However he saw the look on the blond’s face and Izuku decided to zone out. He resembled the look that  _ that man  _ gave him whenever he has something to say to Izuku, none of which were pleasant conversations so Izuku saved himself from a possible war flashback courtesy of his angry fri– classmate.

  


In all honesty, Izuku was really just gonna let Kacchan vent his anger and get everything over it. He was even expecting it to be physical at some point and Izuku didn’t mind. However, Kacchan made a small explosion right in front of his face to startle him out of his thoughts and he heard Kacchan’s next words.

  


“You fucking think you’re really someone huh, Deku?” The scowl from before was now replaced with a sneer. “You can act all you want but no one would ever take you seriously. No one in this shitty school, no one in your own family...” Kacchan’s sneer became bigger when he saw Izuku twitch. “And don’t expect U.A to be any different.” And to put the nail on the coffin, Kacchan decided to add, “If you want things to be different, I guess you can take a swan dive off the roof and hope to be someone else with a quirk and not be Deku in your next life.”

  
  


Now, if Izuku would be asked what he thought were the turning points in his life, moments that made a big impact on his future, Izuku would put his encounter in the woods with a floating creature when he was seven years old on the top. Second would be his last encounter with the creature that he once called his father. Third, would be his vigilante phase. And this... this moment would be the fouth.

  


Izuku looked up and willed his face to be void of any emotion. He then abruptly stood up, took his bag, and brisk walked to the door.

  


“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Kacchan growled from behind him. Izuku just looked over his shoulder, looked at Kacchan then to everyone else that remained inside the room and back at Kacchan that was glaring at him.

  


“Taking your advice.” His voice was steady. “I’m going up the roof now.”

  


Izuku didn’t wait for his words to sink in their heads and he decided to go ahead and head to the roof.

  


While walking, Izuku heard rushed footsteps follow him up but he didn’t care and just decided to make himself look calm, which is all but what he is not inside his head right now.

  


_ Why didn’t I just ignore Kacchan and go home? Fuck. _

  


Izuku knows what his impulsive self wants to do and he is panicking in his head right now since he can’t think of any way to get out of this mess. However, remembering the dumbfounded faces of everyone especially Kacchan when he said what he said, made Izuku feel oddly satisfied. And the thought of what their reactions would be if Izuku went through with what he was about to do in the roof, made the vindictive part of him jump around happily inside his chest.

  


By the time that he was at the roof by the railings, he had quite the number of people following him. He heard something like  _ ‘The quirkless kid from Katsuki’s class wants to get attention.’ ‘Said he’s gonna kill himself’ ‘Should we get a teacher?’ ‘Nah, the kid’s too much of a wimp to follow through.’ ‘Why are we even wasting our time here?’ ‘They said Katsuki-san’s going up now.’ ‘This is gonna be a good one.’ _

  


_ Yeah, can’t back out now.  _ Izuku internally sighs.  _ I fucking hate myself. _

  


Then he hears the doors to the roof kicked open to see a seething Kacchan. Izuku raises a brow while he dropped his bag.

  


_ Why is he angry? _

  


“What the fuck do you think you’re doing Deku?” He pushes his way to the front of the small crowd, looking a bit panicked but mostly angry.

  


_ Ah.  _ Izuku was hit with realization.  _ Of course, if I really did kill myself then his hero career would go off faster than the explosions on his palms. _

  


Izuku smiled at them but he was specifically looking at Kacchan.

  


“Why are you asking something you already know Kacchan?” Izuku asked as he started untying his shoelaces and taking off his shoes one by one. Everyone just looked at his movements and the kinder ones in the crowd started to look at him wide eyed and started saying things like  _ ‘Oh my god’ ‘I think he’s serious guys’ ‘He’s taking off his shoes, is he really gonna...?’ _

  


Izuku stood there on his favourite red socks, feeling the soft and warm material covering his feet.

  


“This is what you’ve been asking for right?” Izuku revels in the atmosphere in the roof and everyone’s faces.

  


Izuku turns his back at them and easily went over the railings. He heard some shouts of surprise. Izuku was standing at the ledge with his two hands holding the railing behind him. Then, he turned to look at them and smiled an innocent smile.

  


He looked at every single one of them in the eye and rested on Kacchan’s wide eyes.  _ If I’m gonna do this, might as well make myself satisfied.  _ Izuku licked his lips and smiled. “Fuck you.” Then he dived headfirst.

  


The air in his ears muffled the screams but he still heard it. That made Izuku feel a bit giddy but it was quickly replaced with disappointment.

  


_ There goes my cover with Tsukauchi and the police. _

  


Izuku sighed.

  


The roof wasn’t really high in Izuku’s opinion but it would still kill him if he didn’t do anything. And since Izuku wasn’t really suicidal, he quickly made his body turn upright and he looked at the sky. The grin on his face was uncontrollable.

  


_ Plan B it is. _

  


**“Innocence Invocate”** Everything seemed to slow down. Heat was starting to radiate from his feet.

  


**“Dark Boots”** He felt the warmth in his feet spread to mid thigh. And the fast descent also slowed down until the tip of his right foot touched the ground. The familiar feeling of lightness overtook Izuku as he looked down on the Innocence that he first had.

  


He was now wearing knee-high leather combat boots but this one was pitch black in color and had a metallic shine to it the soles, however, was a deep shade of red that it almost looked black. On the top of the boots was connected to a knee guard that was the same color as his soles. He landed down the ground in a graceful way and when his two feet were firmly planted to the ground, he looked up to the railings to see Kacchan and the other students gaping down at him, shock apparent on their faces.

  


_ This is satisfying but I really should’ve thought this through first.  _ Izuku thought as he looked at the tattered fabric of his loose pants. The invocation had a force that tore his pants until it looked like short shorts that only reached his mid thighs.

  


_ I think I kind of look like a stripper oh my god.  _ Not that he really knew what they looked like.

  


Even so, Izuku still didn’t let the embarrassment show on his face and he just beamed up at them and crouched down at a certain angle. Then he jumped up. But instead of remaining on the ground, the motion sent him up until he was floating over the roof and the heads of Kacchan and the students that craned their necks to follow his movement.

  


He rolled in the air to show off and then he descended and landed safely onto the tiled roof floor.

  


“Can you guys move? I need to get my things.” The people seemed to have woken up and parted to let him through. On the other end was the unmoving Kacchan that just stared at him with shock.

  


Izuku slowly took steps towards him and as he went closer, the tension in the air became denser. When he was face to face with Kacchan, Izuku let out the smirk he was holding back.

  


“This is what you’ve been asking for, right Kacchan?” Izuku noticed the twitch of his eyebrow and Izuku relished the moment. “You’ve always asked me to show you my ‘quirk’, well here it is.” Izuku crouched down still not moving back and green eyes not leaving red. He reached down the bag and shoes that was between them and took it.

  


He stood up and put on his bag, the shoes still in his hands.

  


_ Like hell I’ll undo the invocation and expose my legs to the cold wind and at the roof no less. _

  


He took another moment to stare firmly at Kacchan and felt joy at the bead of sweat forming at the blond’s forehead. 

  


“And Kacchan...”

  


Izuku leaned over so that his mouth was over the other’s ear, his voice barely a whisper.

  


“You should know better than to instigate my suicide Kacchan. Even _that man_ failed to do so, so what makes you think that you’ll make me crumble?” Izuku didn’t fail to notice the sharp intake of breath he heard from Kacchan. Izuku couldn’t bear the thought of Kacchan ever resembling _that man_ in any other way besides their hatred for Izuku.

  
  


_ “I don’t hate you Izuku.” He heard his father’s cold voice. He stared at his father, waiting for the rest of the words he was sure would break his heart even more. He saw a small smile grace his father’s face, an expression that has ever been directed to him. His father continued.  _

  


_ “Hating you would imply that I loved you at some point in the past.” Izuku quickly took in a breath. And his father didn’t give him time to stop the dizziness he was feeling in his head. _

  


_ “I didn’t, so I could never hate you Izuku. What I feel towards you, that’s called apathy.” His father looked at Izuku with pity in his eyes. “It’s also called the greatest kindness you could ever give someone else.” _

  


_ Izuku held his breath. He couldn’t breathe, let alone speak up to his father. He’d always knew that his father didn’t treat like how a normal dad treated his kids but Izuku had always hoped, had always prayed that if he followed everything they said that he would love him. And when Izuku was older, he could show both him and his mom that he had powers, he may not know what they were at the moment but he felt it within him and he wanted to make them proud when he was able to use them. _

  


_ However, any hope of that happening was crushed by his father that had neither loved nor hated him. He was just a pitiful kid his father knew. He was useless. He was nothing. _

  


_ Izuku clenched his trembling fists and closed his eyes to not let the tears drop. And as if everything else still wasn’t enough, his father leaned into him and whispered to his ears.  _

  


_ “I really do wish that you’ve never been born.” Izuku bit his lip as a sob escaped his lips. When he next heard his voice, he heard traces of a smile.  _

  


_ “But that’s impossible right?” He heard a low chuckle. _

  


_ “However, if you still see me as your father then maybe you can do me a favour and jump off the roof when me and Inko leave for the airport. You can do that for your dad, right son?” _

  


_ Izuku’s ears were ringing. His breathing was heavy. His entire body was shaking. But when he heard his mother’s voice, everything in Izuku stopped. He didn’t dare breath, move or even look at them. And when he heard them go out, Izuku legs gave out on him and he fell to the floor just staring on the opened door. _

  


_ He didn’t know how long he was just staring at nothing and at some point he thought he heard Kacchan’s voice but Izuku didn’t care. He stood up, unsteady and shaking legs making it hard for him to make every step outside the door, outside their apartment and up into the roof. It was hard but he did it. _

  


_ Izuku’s mind was hazy and the only thought in his mind was that his father finally called him his son, he finally referred to himself as Izuku’s father. His head was throbbing as the cold air hit his face for every step he took towards the railings. _

  


_ He was too out of it that he didn’t even notice two cross-shaped wounds opening on each of the front of his ankles oozing blood that trailed after him like a thick red veil. When he was finally able to put his hands on the old rusty railing, Izuku took a shaky breath. He looked at the people walking down the street and ha couldn’t help but ask himself, ‘Will dad really love me if I jump? Will he call me his son again? Can I... be someone wanted?’ _

  


_ Izuku took another shaky breath as a whine came from his throat. ‘No no no no no no no no. He won’t. It won’t change a thing. Nothing, nothing would ever change if I die here. I – I can’t–’ _

  


_ “AHH!” _

  


_ Izuku’s thoughts were interrupted when the pain in his ankles finally registered in his head and he let out a pained scream. _

  


_ He looked down saw his bloody feet. He didn’t what was happening and the next moment, he heard a snapping sound and the scenery of his feet and the floor became that of the blue sky. _

  


_ It took a moment to register that ‘I’m falling I’m failing I’m gonna die.’ _

  


_ “I don’t want to die! I can’t die here!” His throat throbbed more from his shout and his arms tightly held on to his shoulder, hugging himself. _

  


_ Izuku was about to blank out when the smell of blood flooded his nose. He looked to his feet and saw that it was glowing. And the next thing he knew, he was standing. He was standing on the ground unharmed. He was alive he was – _

  


_ Izuku’s legs buckled and he ended up sitting on the ground in front of their apartment. A red glow came from his feet again and he looked down and saw that he was now wearing dark red socks that felt warm on his feet. He was shivering and his whole body was cold aside from his feet. Izuku didn’t know why but that thought made a loud sob rip through his throat and them he howled and sobbed as tears shamelessly came out of his eyes. _

  


_ Izuku cried like he was grieving. In a sense he was right because he felt that an important part of his soul was crushed. He felt like his heart had a huge hole in it. He didn’t fell whole anymore. It felt like a part of Midoriya Izuku died that day. It was killed by that man that his mother loved and that man that he hated with all of his might. He wouldn’t be useless. He wouldn’t be helpless. He wouldn’t be in the same situation of despair that he had experienced this day. _

  


_ Izuku shakily stood up and realized that people were walking down the street and looked at him as they passed by. No one even bothered to check up on him and asked if he was alright. _

  


_ But it didn’t matter. Izuku may not be strong but he will find a way to fight, he will find a way to win and he will find a way to look at all the things that scared him, that broke him, with a smile. _

  


_ Izuku took a big step back the street and turned around to go up the building and into their apartment, his head still swimming in a million thoughts but at least it felt the tiniest bit clearer. _

  
  


The clear sound of the wind brought him back to reality. Izuku took a big step back and looked at Kacchan’s pale face. He tilted his head a bit and gave him a smile.

  


“You’re really not that special Kacchan.”

  


Kacchan made a full body flinch that only Izuku seemed to notice. Izuku internally sighed. Maybe his tolerance has made Kacchan go this far down in the level of human decency.

  


_ Not that I’m any better myself. _

  


Izuku decided to not say any more and turned his back from them. He went down and outside the school.

  


It was still embarrassing to walk the street with torn pants so he kept his Dark Boots on and took the shortcuts he knew.

  


_ This has been quite a day. _ Izuku doesn’t know what to feel about what just happened. He felt emotionally exhausted.

  


He needed to think of a way to explain this power to the police. That’s why Izuku was relying on his plan B.

  


_ Plan B. Plan ‘Bullshitting my way through this deep shit I’m in.’ _

  


He was walking down the tunnel when he felt a presence behind him. However, Izuku was a second too late to react before darkness covered his vision.

  


_ What the fuck is this. It smell and tastes fucking disgusting. _

  


Izuku struggled to get out of the thing surrounding him but he felt that what was surrounding him wasn’t completely solid. To calm himself Izuku took a deep breat–

  


_ Fuck. I can’t breathe. _

  


Izuku felt alarm bells going off in his head and he channelled all the strength he had to kick his legs free. Izuku was quickly losing air when he was finally able to free his legs and he swung it outward before swinging it back to kick the creature holding him with the back of his Dark Boots. It hit the colloidal substance and the next thing he knew, the contact managed to produce enough air pressure to spatter the creature to the walls of the tunnel.

  


Izuku managed to fall to the ground on his knees as he caught his breath. He didn’t waste much time as he jumped forward while turning around to face the creature that tried to kill him.

  


He saw the villain trying to come back together and he was about to kick it again when he heard a familiar shout.

  


“Do not worry! For I am here!”

  


The villain was still struggling to come back together while in the middle of Izuku and All Might  _ The fucking number one hero what the hell  _ that was now awkwardly scratching his neck.

  


“Ohhh. I guess you didn’t need any help after all.” Came the hero’s hesitant voice before he was shouting  again. “Great job kid! Now leave his capture up to me.”

  


“Sure.” Izuku controlled his face as he answered the number one hero busily putting the villain into an empty bottle.

  


_ Smart. To put a villain that isn’t completely solid into a container that would force it to take its shape without harming it and ensuring that it wouldn’t be able to escape again. Simple but it works. _

  


“Why thanks kid. And to observe all of that, you’re pretty smart yourself kid.”

  


Izuku just nodded and gave a “Thanks.”

  


Now, it wasn’t that Izuku isn’t excited to see the number one hero, the person that had once been the epitome of the perfect hero to Izuku. But now, he saw the exorcists the Hevalska talked about as the epitome of heroism and after two years of vigilantism, Izuku was no longer blinded by the ideal picture of heroism the pro heroes liked to portray.

  


Living in the grey shade of the law made Izuku grow up even more and see society in a way that shouldn’t be seen by a kid his age but Izuku didn’t want it any other way. So taking all of that into consideration, no one could fault Izuku for not acting in the way that a normal kid his age would act. 

  


He still felt some kind of admiration though. Being the pillar of society, no matter how fragile the concept of it is, is a daunting task, a task that has been done by this man and is still doing. He’s a great hero. He had respect for the man. But that was the extent of it, he wasn’t a fan so when he saw that the hero was done in his capture, Izuku bowed to All Might.

  


“Thank you again for your help All Might.” Izuku stood up and smied at him. “You’re a great inspiration to our generation. I’m gonna go now.”

  


Izuku then, turned around and continued walking. If All Might had anything to say, Izuku was too preoccupied in his thoughts to hear it.

  


He didn’t know when, but Izuku started brisk walking. And brisk walking with his dark boots activated meant that he was breezing through the streets right now. Izuku remembered Tsukauchi saying that he was going to a station on Musutafu today for a bit and Izuku turned and went into that direction.

  


His plan B worked best in ad lib so Izuku wouldn’t let himself overthink things again and just get it over with.

  


When Izuku was near the station, he was lucky because he saw Tsukauchi standing in front of the station while talking to a man that looked extremely sick from how his skin stick to his bones. Izuku figured it was someone who needed the help of the police.

  


_ Well, here goes plan B. _

_ _

“Nao-nii!” Izuku shouted as he sprinted towards them.

  


He saw Tsukauchi gape in shock as he register his form and the other man look at him with something glinting in his eyes before he opened his mouth saying something along the lines of “Using your quirk in public is not allowed young man.”

  


Tsukauchi was still wide eyed and the other man seemed to have been shaking his head at Izuku before the blond man seemed to remember something and shook Tsukauchi’s shoulders.

  


“Tsukauchi-kun! The villain that I– I saw All Might capture had fallen off somewhere near the shopping street. He told me when he passed by me on the street to tell the police for reinforcement.”

  


The first thought Izuku had when he heard this was  _ All Might asked for reinforcements? For a villain he had already caught once? _

  


And the second thought was  _ Oh shit, someone could have been caught by it. _

  


Izuku knew it was irrational. There was sure to be heroes on the scene and All Might was there. However, that pull, that uncomfortable itch he always got when he knows someone may be in danger took over Izuku’s thoughts.

  


“I’m gonna go see.” Izuku told them as he took off to the direction of the place where the villain was said to have been dropped. Izuku hoped that the shopping street that man was referring to was the one that was close to the station.

  


Izuku knew he looked a bit odd in his get up and he also needed to move fast so Izuku decided to jump on the roofs of the houses and buildings till he saw there was fire and there were a crowd forming and the heroes were standing around.

  


Izuku frowned and jumped on the building overlooking the street.

  


Izuku saw three things.

  


The heroes doing nothing.

  


The villain from earlier on a rampage.

  


And– “Kacchan?!”

  


Izuku didn’t hesitate. He stood up and lifted his left. It glowed deep red and Izuku took in the scene in front of him and a thought went popped into his head.

  


_ I need to save. _

  


**“Innocence Invocate”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, kudos and bookmark if you liked it :))))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy ~

For Izuku, each of his Innocence felt different.

 

His Bloody Archives felt comfortable yet still foreign at the same time. As if it was something that was  _ meant  _ for Izuku, a part of him, like an extra limb yet still be unfamiliar at times as if it can still do more,  _ be more, _ but Izuku didn’t know what it could still do or be. He could get lost in the feeling of using Bloody Archives but he just can’t help thinking that there’s still more to know _.  _ Sometimes, it feels like Izuku was just looking at the surface of an ocean. He knew how vast it was but he doesn’t know the deep darkness beneath the calm waters.

 

His Dark Boots was simple, straightforward, powerful, unrestricted and felt so protective. Using it always felt like walking on air while wearing a full suit of armor, Izuku felt like he could go anywhere without anyone and anything stopping him. However, as much as his Dark Boots gave him freedom, it also at times felt like shackles, never letting him forget the day that man left. Not that Izuku wanted to forget, not really. His Dark Boots always served as an ugly reminder that one didn’t need to be a villain to hurt someone and that one didn’t need to kill to make a person feel like dying. Izuku would have flashes of resentment towards Dark Boots while using it but he’d immediately feel guilty about it and he’d hate himself a little more.

 

His last Innocence was an odd one. It was mysterious yet it was the easiest out of the three that Izuku could use. It didn’t feel as natural as his Bloody Archives nor was it as impactful as his Dark Boots. However, this Innocence just radiated kindness and fear. No, it didn’t cause fear, the innocence itself felt somewhat hesitant and afraid. It really represented well how Izuku was when he was young. It took a while for it to assimilate with Izuku, not because it was incompatible with him, quite the opposite really. It was the second closest to Izuku’s nature after Bloody Archives but the reason it took longer than usual was because Izuku was unconsciously rejecting it. He’s still struggling with it really, but despite Izuku’s resistance, he could still use his innocence easily. His innocence felt like a warm blanket that would envelop him. Izuku also has a feeling that this warmth could cover a much much larger space than what he’s capable of now but it’s just a feeling.

 

God only knows what would happen if he can completely be one with all three of his Innocence but Izuku doesn’t know if he’s looking forward to it or dreading it instead.

 

Izuku had a long time to study all of his Innocence and there’s one thing that he found amusing. Each of his Innocence symbolized three of his greatest desires and greatest fears. His Bloody Archives represented his desire for information and his fear of ignorance. His Dark Boots represented his desire for freedom and his fear of stagnancy. His last Innocence was the easiest for him to use because it represented the strongest emotions he had, his desire to save and his fear of being  _ useless and unwanted. _

 

_ My third and last Innocence can’t help me dominate an opponent through information, speed and power but it wasn’t any less in its ability to save. _

 

Izuku stood at the top of a roof and lifted his left arm and activated his Innocence.

 

**“Innocence Invocate:”**

 

The red glove on his left hand glowed, liquefied and turned into a solid circular disk that floated horizontally over his wrist. It covered the cross shaped wound at the back of his left hand. The disk was sleek black and there were two green lines on it, one smaller than the other, with small green orbs that travelled along its lines, like planets going around orbit and at the center was a circle that glowed green.

 

_ It’s name... _

 

**“Time Record”**

 

...

 

It took Toshinori in Tsukauchi’s car a minute to go to where the young man ran off to, where the villain was attacking innocent civilians.

 

He might have noticed his friend’s restlessness and confusion as he drove the car, but Toshinori was too busy thinking about  _ his failure  _ to ask him about it.

 

“We’re here.” Toshinori didn’t even wait for his friend to stop the car properly before he got out, nearly stumbling on his way, and saw a scene that made his heart drop.

 

“Why aren’t you doing anything?!” He heard his friend’s tight utterance and he turned to see him in front of the crowd, glaring at a hero preventing the overlooking civilians to come closer.

 

He really admired his Tsukauchi and his ability to stay calm and take the appropriate actions. He also wanted to do something, to save the kid who seemed to suffocate and on the verge of losing consciousness but Toshinori was powerless and useless yet again.

 

He barely heard the pro heroes’ excuse about not having compatible quirks and he was about to go over there on the front himself to smash some sense into him when he felt the air thin out and hear a particular sound.

 

When he looked at villain again, his jaw dropped. A meter above the villain’s head was a vertically floating black disk, where the two ornamental clock hands made a deep and slow clicking sound. It was an amazing sight but that wasn’t the end of it.

 

Two green circular lines that were within each other with green orbs along the lines surrounded the villain and the kid and a second later, the two were forcibly separated from each other. The movement looked unnatural and it went on until the two was separated by at least two meters. Toshinori noticed that the lines that surrounded them became larger as well, still keeping the two within it. The ticking sound was still going off, the calming sound becoming an irony with the shouts of the two people struggling below it. The villain screamed with a terrified voice as it was slowly dragged away from the back of the kid he was covering earlier.

 

“I- I can’t move! What did you heroes do?!” The villain seemed smaller than how it was before. It was now noticeably weaker.

 

“Fu-fuck! Let me move and kill this fucking villain!” The kid also looked like he regained all the energy and strength that he lost.

 

Everyone was bewildered by the sight, Toshinori was no exception but he heard Tsukauchi’s gasp that was a beat too late to correspond to the sight before them, so he took a glance and saw him looking down at his phone.

 

Tsukauchi looked lost but quickly gritted his teeth and fisted the nearest pro hero’s costume.

 

“Do your job and get the kid out of there now.” He finished that with pushing the shocked hero out of the crowd and that movement thankfully spurred the other pro heroes into action.

 

Death Arms, if Toshinori remembered correctly, reached out to the kid that was at the edge of the green circle and yanked him and carried him on his arms. The crowd made a sound of relief but that immediately stopped when the angry kid suddenly fell limp when he was completely outside the circle. The pro hero seemed to panic at the abrupt change but Tsukauchi, who was still holding his phone tightly, took control again and instructed them to bring the kid to the medics that were stationed there for a while now.

 

It took a while but the pro heroes were also able to contain the villain and were able to put him inside a tightly sealed container, also by the command of Tsukauchi.

 

_ He’s really on the roll today.  _ Toshinori thought with pride and admiration.

 

But when he was able to look closely at his friend, he saw the heavy air that surrounded him and that had Toshinori worried.

 

...

 

Izuku is worried for his own well being.

 

After getting a clear view of the scene and using  **Reverse** to target Kacchan and the villain to separate them, Izuku crouched down and got on his phone to give instructions to Tsukauchi who looked increasingly more murderous by the second. He hid it well enough but Izuku could see through those kinds of things easily.

 

From the moment Izuku invocated his Innocence and used Time Record, he felt relaxed and assured that things would be fine. Because using Reverse rewinded time to the moment before the villain got a hold of Kacchan and their physical states were also turned back. The villain became weaker while Kacchan got the energy that went into struggling. They would be stuck in that position and wouldn’t be able to move unless Izuku undoes the invocation and he just needed to wait for Kacchan to be taken out of the boundary he set and for the villain to be contained.

 

Of course, getting them out of the boundary meant that the time reversed would go back. Their locations may not be forced to return when they’re out of the boundary but their physical states sure will. That’s why Kacchan fainted when he was rescued out of the boundary. The villain’s case was different. Since his improved physical state that was reversed out of villain relied on him possessing Kacchan, nothing happened when he was captured and was taken out of the boundary since the conditions weren’t the same as before Reverse was used.

 

After the incident, Izuku figured that Tsukauchi would be too busy to deal with him then so Izuku just went home and slept peacefully in his bed.

 

Izuku is not worried anymore. A good night’s sleep made him clear headed and ready for anything.

 

The next day started normal enough. After his usual interaction with his mother and the lowkey passive-aggressive ‘take-of-those-gloves’ war he has with her, Izuku went ahead to school wherein news of his latest exploit has been butchered, exaggerated and spread to anyone who has ears.

 

Apparently, he’s a maniac who has been having fun lying to everyone about not having a quirk.

 

Izuku doesn’t care. He can take any name anyone gives him.

 

Kacchan has glared at him a few times that day but he didn’t act out in rage and demanded answers from him like he’s entitled to any of them, so Izuku figured that Kacchan was still shaken from the accident with the villain to properly bother with him.

 

Izuku was now just waiting for his friendly neighbourhood detective’s move.

 

The move came when he was called to the principal’s office just after the first period in the afternoon. The moment he heard his name from the intercom, Izuku knew what was up.

 

He entered the office with his head bowed after knocking twice. He looked at the principal sitting on his usual seat and Tsukauchi seating on the seat in front of the table. He smiled innocently at the two of them and politely greeted them.

 

“Let me cut to the chase.” Tsukauchi said after all the formalities. Izuku was seated on the other seat in front of the table and across Tsukauchi. “Midoriya Izuku as the primary instructor of the newly developed special police aspirants training program, I, Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, am inviting you as one of the participants of the first batch of aspirants.”

 

Izuku is proud of the fact that he managed to stop the smile on his face from twitching and for not even breaking a sweat before he replied.

 

“What...? Really?!” His eyes were watery and his smile was now shaking. “Oh my god oh my god this is happening. This is really happening. I’m not dreaming right?!” Izuku frantically looked at the surprised principal who kindly smiled at him, the old lines on his eyes crinkling.

 

“Of course not Midoriya-kun. You’re grades and performance had been stellar and you have a clean record so of course you would be chosen as one of the first participants of this program. I remember your teacher talking about a bright and kind kid that had an interest to go into the police academy for his second choice so when I received an urgent notice from Detective Tsukauchi’s main office, I didn’t hesitate to bring up your name.”

 

_ “Your performance had been stellar” Oh, you have no clue sir. _

 

Izuku internally berated the old man that looked at him like he was his own grandchild.

 

_ I have a clean record? Then what I did yesterday never happened? Oh, I know. The school found out that I had a powerful and flashy quirk so of course they would cover any kind of dirt in my record. Just like the other cases that were put under the rug just because the perpetrator was a kid with a good quirk. You’re all thirsty for the credit of producing great heroes for publicity and more chances of increased funding but at the expense of that is producing egocentric and sadistic bullies that thinks that they own the world. I know how the whole faculty of this school thinks and how they see the students here. I know all your names so of course I know. I’m appalled from knowing that there is not one good teacher in this rotten school. The ones who have the conscience doesn’t have the courage to speak up against the admin so they just go with it and the cycle of narrow-mindedness keeps plaguing this school. I’m sick of this dump and I’m sick of all of you. _

 

“I’m honoured that you see me that way sir.” Izuku was still teary-eyed and even his hands were shaking now from joy. He faced Tsukauchi.

 

“Sir. If– If this is really true. If I–I’m worthy of being chosen... then I would be honoured to enter your program.” Izuku looked like the perfect picture of a kid just that had his dreams granted. Anyone would feel touched at seeing a boy that was close to tears from the sheer joy and hope that he felt.

 

_ Of course it’s just all a lie. _

 

Tsukauchi smiled at him. Of course his quirk would catch that lie. “Yes, your performance is stellar Midoriya-kun.” The minute sharpness in his eyes told Izuku what the detective had meant and he was flatted at the compliment.

 

“Thank you so much sir. I’ll be sure to perform even better in the future.” His voice had gone a pitch higher in the end but the hidden smirk in his bright smile was sure to be seen by Tsukauchi.

 

“I’m sure you will.” If this was an anime, Izuku was sure there would be electric sparks between their eyes.

 

The principal seemed to be oblivious to all of this so he just clapped his hands in delight. 

 

“Great! We’ll give you the details after this and we’ll also call your mother to talk with me and Detective Tsukauchi.”

 

Izuku nodded his head vigorously and stuttered a response.

 

It really was a great performance.

 

...

 

Tsukauchi asked for a bit of time for him and Midoriya to talk so the principal graciously got out of his office to go on his ‘usual’ route around the school which, of course, was a lie to make the principal look good in front of this detective.

 

Tsukauchi was aware of the misgivings Midoriya had with this school and its personnel and Tsukauchi shared the sentiment.

 

_ Well, the kid once said that he’d make this school shut down for good after he graduates so I’ll just wait and see what happens. _

 

“I suppose it’s only right that I start this conversation.” Midoriya had enough shame to look sheepish but Tsuakauchi didn’t completely let his guard down. Even with a lie detecting quirk, he had to be alert and focused to avoid being lied to by this deceptively innocent kid.

 

Tsukauchi didn’t say anything in reply and just nodded while keeping a blank face. He knew that Izuku was aware of Tsukauchi’s questions already.

 

“This matter about me having three abilities, well...” Izuku’s face became quickly became solemn and Tsukachi couldn’t read him at all. “This is all off the record okay?”

 

Tsukauchi raised his brow and contemplated. It took him a couple of minutes before he nodded.

 

“Okay. Today you’ll be talking to Tsukauchi Naomasa and not Detective Tsukauchi.” Tsukauchi relaxed his body at that but he’s still being vigilant with his quirk. Even listening to Izuku as a friend, Tsukauchi needed to make sure that he wasn’t being lied to. It was a habit he formed over the years of working and especially after working with someone like Midoriya Izuku.

 

“I don’t believe you a hundred percent but okay.” Midoriya shrugged. Then he looked at Tsukauchi straight in the eyes.

 

“I’m quirkless.” There it was again. Whenever Izuku had talked about being quirkless in the eyes of everyone, Tsukauchi’s quirk wouldn’t go off. As if it wasn’t a lie. And it was happening again.

 

Izuku smiled at him as if telling him that he knew Tsukauchi was confused. “I really am. What I have now aren’t really mine. They were given to me when I was a kid.”

 

Tsukauchi was dumbstruck.

 

_ Given...? Given?! _

 

He didn’t notice the sweat forming on his temples. It wasn’t a lie. Therefore, Midoriya’s quirk or quirks were indeed given to him.

 

_ But by who?! Don’t tell me... _

 

“Who was it? Who gave it to you? Where is that person now and do you still have contact with him?” He saw in Midoriya’s eyes how he was a bit startled with the urgency that Tsukauchi had displayed.

 

_ Could he still be alive? No, that’s impossible. What’s happening? _

 

“I don’t have contact with them anymore. Not since the night my Bloody Archives, Dark Boots and Time Record was given to me when I was seven years old.”

 

It isn’t a lie. That was also before his friend and All-for-One fought.

 

“So those are the names of your quirks?” Tsukauchi was calming himself down.

 

_ Is it possible that he’s connected to All-for-One? _

 

“Those names just came to my mind when I used them. I don’t really know who gave it to me I have no idea who they really are.”

 

_ He’s not answering some questions directly. Why? _

 

Tsukauchi took a deep breath. “Midoriya-kun, do you know who All-for-One is?“ 

 

“Of course I do.” Tsukachi’s eyes went wide with shock. “I was a former vigilante, how wouldn’t I know that urban legend?” Midoriya rolled his eyes at him but Tsukauchi didn’t pay it any mind. He really needed to ask a question.

 

“Did All-for-One give you those quirks?”

 

Something flashed in Izuku’s eyes.

 

“No. All-for-One didn’t give me any quirks.” Midoriya answered him clearly and slowly. But after that, a smile slowly crept to his face. “So that urban legend really exists huh?”

 

Tsukauchi wasn’t able to process that for a second. “What?”

 

“You asked me if he gave me quirks. That requires a premise that All-for-One really exists, if not, why would even ask me in the first place? That legendary villain that existed for centuries that can give and take quirks really exists. I’ve been curious about that for a very long time. It’s good to finally have an answer. I guess that he has a longevity quirk but that would be obvious right? That’s crazy. I hope I can know his name or maybe her? Maybe All-for-One has some sort of quirk to disguise himself so it would be a great cover to be his opposite sex. But then there would be many other way to disguise oneself using any quirk that he may have. The possibilities are endless. Ahhhhh I want to know his name. Catching him would be soooo satisfying hehehe. How would it feel to be an almost immortal and still be cornered, captured and be thoroughly read by a hero? Ahhh I want to catch this villain so bad...”

 

Tsukauchi should be used to this by now. He should be. But damn, he’s still freaked out by the weird characteristic of this frighteningly brilliant kid.

 

The muttering went on for minutes and Tsukauchi took that time to compose himself.

 

The most important fact is that Midoriya’s quirks weren’t given to him by All-for-One. Next is that Midoriya has three quirks but their origin still remains unknown. Last is that even with all his eccentricities, Midoriya still wants to be a hero and catch villains.

 

Tsukauchi then remembered the first series of questions he asked Midoriya when he was brought under his jurisdiction.

 

_ Are you a villain? _

 

_ No. _

 

_ Do you want to harm people in any way? _

 

_ No. _

 

_ Why did you become a vigilante? _

 

_ To help people. _

 

That was the first and easiest conversation he had with Midoriya. Because after Midoriya had known his name and quirk, Midoriya made it his life’s mission to test his lying skills and Tsukauchi’s patience by always trying to get past his lie detection quirk. And the worst part was that Midoriya became better and better at getting past him and his quirk and had managed to often lie until Tsukauchi upped his game. It was a never ending cycle of quirk and lying exercise. He’d also noticed significant improvement on his quirk and overall instincts towards lies but he wouldn’t let the kid know lest he’d suffer an annoying smug look from the kid.

 

The silence in the room got Tsukauchi’s attention. He looked at Midoriya who was now looking calm and composed as if he hadn’t just made a near psychotic rant about capturing a villain. The very faint reddening of the kid’s ear made Tsukauchi know that Midoriya was aware of what he did.

 

He coughed into his fist. “I’m really glad about your enthusiasm.” Tsukauchi saw Midoriya struggling with maintaining his expression but how could Tsukauchi let go of this opportunity to tease this almost mentally infallible kid?

 

“I hope that you’ll pour the same amount of enthusiasm on the training program made just for you.”

 

Midoriya raised a brow. “You’re changing the topic? Are you done asking your questions?”

 

Tsukauchi shrugged. “Isn’t that what you wanted? That’s why you exaggerated your rant. The content was all true but the delivery was more psychotic than usual so I presumed that you wanted to distract me, right? I don’t think I can dig deeper into the origin of your quirks but the important thing is that I’m sure that it’s not given by that villain. And I hope it’s clear that anything about him cannot go out to anyone even though he’s dead now.”

 

The kid made a humming sound. “Thank you for your consideration. And I doubt that the villain’s dead but you’re the detective here.” Midoriya relaxed in his seat.

 

Tsukauchi didn’t mind the doubtful nature of Midoriya because that was the kid’s thing so he just continued their talk.

 

“I know you’re not telling me the whole truth about your quirks but that’s fine. I only need to know their primary functions and think of a cover for them. You can’t just register three unrelated quirks and not expect to gather some attention.”

 

They both understood what Tsukauchi meant by attention, so Midoriya just nodded and replied with a small smile.

 

“I already have one. I’ll have a quirk called Innocent Blood Essence. This allows me to transform my blood into equipments that have varying abilities. My maximum capacity is three. One is a book that lets me store information and be able to instantly recall them as long as they’re written within it. The other one is a pair of boots that gives me high jumping ability and great manoeuvrability. And the last one is a disk that can enlarge and become a shield. These abilities are determined from my pure emotions and no, they cannot be changed. They can be fixed using my blood but repairing it too much and in quick successions makes me susceptible to faint spells.”

 

_ Should’ve expected that he’s prepared.  _ Tsukauchi internally sighed.

 

“Most of those were a lie but the abilities you mentioned had some truth in it. I presume that it’s just a derivation from the main abilities of your quirks?”

 

Midoriya gave him a smile.

 

“You’re really great at your job you know that?” The kid paused for a few seconds before continuing. 

 

Suddenly his right hand glove glowed and then Tsukauchi saw for the first time a dark blood red book with ancient designs. It floated on the kid’s palm. Tsukauchi felt his head throb just at the sight of it and he didn’t know the reason why.

 

“My Bloody Archives can give me information using a name and it does let me remember anything that I write in it but it’s too much for my brain so I still just get copies of it and read it to avoid any brain damage. But I guess I can really do it in a year give or take.”

 

“That wasn’t entirely truthful, but go on.” Tsukauchi made a gesture with his hand and Midoriya just playfully rolled his eyes.

 

Next Midoriya rolled his pants to go above his knees and he took off his red shoes to only have his red socks remain. Then it also glowed red until a black knee-high leather combat boots covered his legs with a blackish red knee guard that covered the entirety of his knees. Tsukauchi couldn’t take his eyes off it. He felt its great presence just by looking at it,

 

“My Dark Boots does indeed give me high jumping ability and great manoeuvrability I didn’t really lie about that.”

 

_ It wasn’t a lie but _ “That’s not all of it, right?”

 

Midoriya shrugged as if he expected it. Then the red glove on his left hand glowed and in its place floated a black disk with a green circle in the middle with two green circular lines around it with green orbs going in orbit. Tsukauchi felt warmth enveloping him and he didn’t understand why seeing these things were making him suffocate just from the sheer power and mysteriousness that all three emanates.

 

“My Time Record isn’t really a shield but I think I can enlarge it and treat it as a shield but that isn’t its real power.” Midoriya shrugged and Tsukauchi let the vagueness of the answer pass.

 

“That’s what you used in the villain attack, right?” Tsukauchi subtly clenched his fist to get a grip on himself and continue his information gathering. Of course, he saw Midoriya’s eyes drifting to his fist before looking back to his face.

 

_ Nothing gets past this kid. _

 

“Yeah. I can have a very limited control of time and space while using it. I don’t really understand it myself that well so that’s all I can tell you about it.”

 

His quirk didn’t go off but Tsukauchi still believes that it isn’t the entire truth but he understands why Midoriya’s been so vague about it so he nodded.

 

“A quirk with that much potential is really dangerous. I get why you’d rather not release much information about it.”

 

The kid just smiled at him. He leaned back and all three of his quirks flashed red and it returned to being gloves and socks. The force caused the pants to roll down on its own, and then he put his legs over each other and rested his chin on the back of his right hand with his elbow on the arm of the chair. He looked satisfied with himself. He knew that he gave Tsukauchi the bare minimum information that he needed so Midoriya can opt out of further questioning.

 

“Now that we’re done with that...” Midoriya smiled happily. “Let’s talk about this program.”

 

...

 

“So you’re gonna spend the remaining year studying under the program that the police offered you?” His mother asked him at dinner.

 

Izuku had just told Inko about the training program that was really just a way for the police to keep watch over him and his quirks and to make sure that he was only keeping his quirks a secret and not engaging in any illegal activities this past year that he was working for them. It was a way to let him work for them more easily. Of course, Tsukauchi didn’t say it directly but he religiously updated the entries in his archives and didn’t find anything about that training program so Izuku’s sure that it was just a cover that they made for him.

 

Now, he only needed his mother’s affirmation.

 

“Yes.” Izuku smiled at her. “I would be studying there but they would send my results to the school so that they would still be the ones to release my grades. The training program has academic and physical classes that would be more focused on practicality compared to some of the useless curriculum implemented in that school so I’d really like to take part.”

 

His mother looked pensive. “You said that I’ll get to talk with the principal and the main instructor of the program right?”

 

Izuku nodded and Inko smiled. “Then I’ll decide then. I just need to ask a few questions about this program.” Izuku frowned and Inko laughed at him.

 

“Don’t pout. You’ve answered all my questions about it but I’d like to hear it directly from them.” Her smiled waned for a second. “I’ve always felt guilty about not sending you to a better school because we don’t have enough money for that.”

 

Izuku saw her hand on the table fidget and he immediately felt bad.

 

“It’s fine Mom. A school doesn’t decide a student’s worth. I decide it myself, okay?”  _ Not true for all cases but that doesn’t need to be said. One of such cases being Kacchan. _

 

“I know Izuku. It’s just that, if you’re gonna go finish middle school in this program, I’d like to make sure that you would be safe and get the quality education that you deserve.”

 

Inko gave him a shaky smile and Izuku stood up and gave her a hug.

 

After a while, while still in the hug, Inko asked.

 

“Maybe if you start in that program you’d finally take off those gloves?”

  
Izuku smiled while in the hug. “No Mom.”


	5. Chapter 5

Izuku noticed that he was saying a particular phrase more frequently.

 

“No Mom.”

 

Izuku resolutely shook his head at his mother. At his side was a suitcase filled of his clothes and other necessities.

 

“But you really like All Might. I see nothing wrong with you bringing all your merchs to decorate your room with, right? That way you won’t be homesick.” Inko asked while holding to her chest various All Might figurines.

 

“No Mom, I won’t bring my merchs to the dorm.” The mother and son pair was currently arguing about what things he would bring to the training program that Tsukauchi orchestrated to observe him and use him as their unpaid informant. Izuku was bitter about it but what could he do?

 

Due to the distance, they offered dorms to the ‘paticipants’ of the program and he and Inko already checked it and his mother reluctantly agreed. It was a facility located  **within** a mountain that was surrounded by a vast forest. It was said to be the property of a renowned school, before the time of quirks. The descendants of the principal of that school was said to be the founder of the Hero Association. And it was due to the connections of the police that they can use it for the program. So even if it was quite a long distance away from home, safety wasn’t an issue.

 

In the end, Izuku won and didn’t have to bring any merch. Izuku didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Tsukauchi by basically announcing that he was his best friend’s fanboy.

 

Izuku knew everything that he needed to know about Tsukauchi and that involved his connections, he didn’t check his co workers though because Izuku more or less personally knew all of Tsukauchi’s bosses and colleagues. Izuku almost had a heart attack when he first read that he was best friends with his all time favourite hero. He also managed to get a name.

 

_ Yagi Toshinori. _

 

Now, all he needed was a face and he would have access to information about his hero. No, he wasn’t a stalker, he’s just curious.

 

All the documents and preparation took three days and Izuku didn’t go to school in those days. He was sure that news of this training program had now circulated in school and he knew Kacchan would have blown his top when he received news of it.

 

It’s a good thing that he was given permission to skip and just focus on preparing so he managed to avoid that shitshow but one issue that he couldn’t avoid was that his mother doesn’t know that he’s not ‘quirkless’ anymore.

 

He’s not sure if she’d believe him if he would be the one to tell her that he has a quirk or quirks now. Talking about that with her would just open a whole can of worms that both of them didn’t want to get involved with.

 

So Izuku just decided to not let her know. He couldn’t avoid it but he could stall for time. He knew that he was just prolonging his suffering but he just wasn’t ready to face her about this. He can do many things, but handling sensitive family matters is not one of them.

 

This was a classic case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Now that Izuku would be spending one year within the program, he would only need to focus on other things until such a day comes where he has no other choice but to talk about ‘quirks’ with his mother.

 

He was aware that his mother may know it anytime since a lot of people know that he at least have Dark Boots as a ‘quirk’ but Izuku would take that over telling her about it himself.

 

_ Yup. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. _

 

Izuku still needs to cross another particular bridge. That bridge being the fact that he was wrong about one thing.

 

“Good morning everyone.” Tsukauchi stood on a podium on the stage. The director of the program just finished her speech and it was now the main instructor’s turn.

 

_ That program was real. It was fucking real and I’m in no way prepared for this. I didn’t see anything in Tsukauchi’s entry in my archives when I updated last night. What is this? _

 

Izuku is now currently standing among at least twenty-five kids around his age in rows and columns. And this was the opening ceremony of the special training program that would last for one year, until the end of middle school. The large auditorium felt bare with this small amount of people.

 

“Everyone here has been chosen and decided to be part of the first batch of our training program. This was based on your personal performances not just in academics but also in personality. Of course, you would also need to have put the police academy into one of your chosen schools after middle school.”

 

The kids silently talked amongst themselves at this. Regardless, Tsukauchi still talked.

 

“I know that this was on very short notice and this might be a cause of concern for you.” He looked over all the students. “This is also the reason for you small number. However, I personally think that it’s better like this. This would ensure the quality of our instruction and we would also be able to watch over all of you carefully to avoid any accidents for the next ten months.”

 

Izuku nodded his head at that. Everyone listened intently to him.

 

“I’ll be teaching you the basics of interrogation and how to read people. I’ll also teach you how to write academic and professional papers that is not just useful if you want to pursue a career in the police but also in other fields. Of course, everything else that you’ll be taught here will also be useful in any field that you’d like and we won’t force anyone to choose to be with the police. We’re just doing our part in moulding the next generation and possibly receiving new blood for the police force is just a bonus.” 

 

Behind Tsukauchi were three guys. Two looked like they were in their early to mid twenties. One was tall with an average build and with red hair and pale golden eyes, the other one was a bit on the shorter side with a small build and soft features with blue hair and blue eyes. The last one was a man who looked like he was in his mid forties with average height and muscular build with short black hair and black eyes.

 

“Now, all of you will be in one class and I along with the people behind me will be your instructors. Let me introduce them to you.”

 

The red haired guy didn’t even wait for Tsukauchi to finish when he walked forward towards the podium with carefree movements. The blue haired guy slapped his hand on his forehead and sighed while Tsukauchi stared blankly at the guy before sighing and handing him the mic. The red haired guy smiled, showing his sharp canines and in his eyes was a mischievous glint.

 

“Okay kids listen up.” It sounded cheerful but threatening at the same time.

 

“My name is Akabane Karma. I’m a private tutor and now one of your teachers. You’ll call me Karma-sensei and you’ll be my students in half of your general studies and also your teacher in your martial arts class.” That got a reaction from most of the students, mostly about the subject but there were a few that reacted to the teacher’s name himself.

 

Izuku couldn’t help but stiffen. Akabane Karma. He’d heard that name during his time as a vigilante. Actually, he’s heard about the Akabane family. They’re also a frequent topic in the shady forums of the internet. They’re famous for having a solid foundation in the underground political scene. They are a powerhouse family that has various connections, some of which includes the Hero Association, majority of the political families, some high ranking Pro Heroes and not to mention their illegal connections. It was rumoured that the eldest son of the Akabane family would always have the same features and be an outstanding genius. Moreover, they were given the same first name.

 

Karma.

 

It was said that the Akabane Karma of every generation would always have the same love for politics but they’d still have different side hobbies. The first Karma was said to have a strange fixation on mischief and pranks and that he’d spare no one from his traps. Although specific details were uncertain due to that Karma living so long ago, just before the discovery of quirks. Each Karma would have a different passion aside from politics. One became an expert martial artist, one became an athlete that competed in the now extinct Olympics, one became a professional gamer and many more.

 

However, no one knew what any of the Karma’s quirks were.

 

_ Well, not anymore.  _ Izuku planned to know all about this Akabane Karma after today.

 

Karma looked over them one last time before going back to the group behind him. Izuku particularly felt that Karma’s gaze lasted for a second longer.

 

Next up was the blue haired... guy? His movements were silent and graceful. Calculated and full of mystery. He held the mic and smiled kindly at them.

 

“Hello. My name is Shiota Nagisa.” His voice was melodious and he looked at the students with a certain warmth. “I’m a professor at the police academy but I’ve requested to be transferred here when I heard about the program. I’ll also be teaching the other half of your general studies and I’ll also be teaching in your special class for infiltration and intelligence and other skills that I think everyone would find useful.” That got a wave of interested noises from the students, this surely coming from the mentioned special class. However, Izuku was just shocked even more.

 

The name Shiota Nagisa wasn’t known by any means. He wasn’t from a powerful family like the Akabane or was he a famous genius. No, that name would only be mentioned within the conversations of the vilest of villains and very few accomplished vigilantes. Shiota Nagisa was an urban legend just below the level of All-for-One. He is a vigilante that was known for being unpredictable. No one knew the face, age, quirk or connections, just the name Shiota Nagisa, his gender and the fact that his known kills are only a small fragment of his overall kill count. Another fact is that that name existed as long as the Akabane family has taken control of the underground political scene.

 

There was a rumour that he always takes in a student and teacher his students all his skills and gives the student his whole identity and that’s how the name has managed to exist for so long. There were a lot of different theories but none had been confirmed. But Izuku has a feeling that he’s very close to the truth.

 

Why? Because Izuku has a very firm belief that this guy is THE Shiota Nagisa. He doesn’t know why but that’s what he felt when he saw the way Nagisa moved and talked.

 

There was no other basis besides that and his gut feeling.

 

Izuku is a methodological guy. He doesn’t easily become swayed by his emotions. However, whenever he has a gut feeling as strong as this one, Izuku doesn’t hesitate to believe it. Because the first time it happened, it led him to Hevlaska and Apocryphos and it changed his life forever. Therefore, he’s not gonna stop believing in it now.

 

_ I need to use my archives when I have the chance. _

 

He didn’t feel anything strange with the way Nagisa talked and the way he looked at them. He finished speaking without giving out anything. That only scared Izuku even more.

 

_ Why are so many unexpected things happening today?! First, the training program being legit, and then having the eldest son of the Akabane family as an instructor and now the possibility that I’m in the same space as a very renowned vigilane! _

 

Izuku couldn’t help the bead of sweat that formed on his temple.

 

_ These people... would be instructing us? _

 

Izuku didn’t know how this arrangement was made and why but he chose not to dwell on those now. He could always find the answers in the Bloody Archives later. This unexpected matter was just an oversight due to his carelessness and complacence.

 

_ Bloody Archives is a powerful information gathering tool but it would just be a simple book in the hands of an incompetent user. The same goes for my other Innocence. They’re all powerful with great potentials but they would be restricted if I’m too weak. I need to grow and improve with them. _

 

It was just the first day of the training program but Izuku had already learned an important lesson!

 

Izuku has once again matured under the experience of great shock. Being incorrect and having faced such figures had made Izuku take another step forward!

 

He woke up from his daze when a new voice spoke. It was the slightly older black haired instructor. His experience could be seen with the way he carried himself.

 

“Good morning.” Izuku suppressed a gasp.

 

_ This... this... _

 

“You can call me Han.”

 

_ This guy... _

 

“I am going to teach you about the basics of weapon handling. Basically, I’ll teach you how to use and how to defend against knives and guns.”

 

_ He’s... _

 

“I won’t tolerate arrogance in my class. If you’re unwilling to be taught you’re free to leave the program anytime. Weapon handling will be your first class today so everyone should get change to the uniform that was given to you. And let me repeat what the director said earlier, even though everyone is in this training program, quirk use is still prohibited. All the exercises will be done without quirks. And also, several of your classmates are quirkless or have unique quirks but we would like to reiterate that we don’t tolerate bullying of any kind so try to play nice with each other.”

 

Izuku barely caught himself from exclaiming.

 

_ He’s a normal person! _

 

Izuku heaved a deep sigh of relief. If the last instructor turned out to be another elusive character, he would have lost it due to the absurdity of the situation.

 

_ Thank god, he’s a genuine normal instructor. _

 

...

 

Being in the training program is incredibly different when compared to what he was used to in his previous school and being in their second month, everyone agreed on that fact.

 

“Midoriya, did you know the answer for item three?” Izuku turned his head to look at the boy with bright eyes and a boyish smile seated behind him.

 

“Yes.” Then he turned back to his notebook.

 

After a second he heard a whine. “Midoriyaaaaa c’mon buddy, my soulmate, the peanut butter to my jelly, the salt to my pepper, the air I breathe, the sunshine of my life, the–”

 

Izuku threw his notebook with the answer behind him. Expectedly, he heard a thump sound and a “Thanks! You’re the best Midoriya!”

 

Izuku rolled his eyes but his mouth formed into a small smile.

 

“Hey~” Everyone turned to the flippant teacher that was carrying his notebook for attendance.

 

“Good morning Karma-sensei” Everyone said in unison and Karma just waved them off.

 

“We have a long day today, so let’s start quickly.” Karma opened his notebook and started calling them one by one.

 

“Amane”

 

“Here!”

 

Karma continued to call their names. It has already been one month since the first day and everyone is basically familiar with everyone else.

 

Of course, with Izuku, that familiarity is taken to a whole new level.

 

“Kuroki”

 

“Here!” The voice behind him answered.

 

Kuroki Tetsuro. 14 years old. Quirkless.

 

He was the first one that talked to Izuku and he’s been bugging Izuku ever since. Not that he minded.

 

Izuku also managed to make good relationships with the rest of the class and it sent Izuku’s mind reeling a bit from the lack of animosity from the kids his age. Sure, there were petty fights and occasional misunderstandings but there was no bullying or any unnecessary violence from anyone.

 

This was something Izuku wasn’t used to so he didn’t know how to act. And for some miracle, everyone knew that Izuku’s anti-social behaviour was due to his awkwardness and not from any arrogance.

 

“Midoriya”

 

Izuku raised his hand. “Here.”

 

Izuku knew that this was what ‘normal’ was. But he still couldn’t avoid being on guard whenever there was any surprise contact from anyone. He couldn’t avoid doubting the people that talked to him even though he saw in their entries under ‘personality’ that they weren’t the type of people to lie and make fun of people behind their back. Izuku still couldn’t help but wait for someone to call him Deku, curse at him and laugh at him. He still needed a moment to process that someone was involving him in their conversations. He still needed to control himself from giving snide remarks or just plain ignoring people whenever they made a friendly joke about him.

 

Izuku thought that he wasn’t affected in any way from the years he experienced with Kacchan. He thought that he didn’t let them get to him.

 

_ I was wrong.  _ Izuku internally sighed.

 

Izuku needed to adjust. However, Izuku hated the fact that he needed to adjust in the first place. He hated that he wasn’t as unaffected as he had thought. He hated that he couldn’t be normal with the class he was in. He started feeling useless again for not being able to do something as normal as being a social person.

 

“Psssst.” Izuku turned around discreetly to Kuroki.

 

“You were spacing out again.” The boy said in a forced whisper and Izuku just stared. Unconsciously, he waited for the added insult at the end.

 

Kuroki just held the notebook and gave it to him.

 

He leaned forward and smiled. “Thanks for the help.”

 

Izuku took a second to give a small smile back. “You’re welcome.”

 

Kuroki’s smile intensified. He reached out and patted Izuku’s head and Izuku’s instinctively moved it away. He saw Kuroki pout and Izuku just playfully rolled his eyes and turned towards the front where he noticed Karma raising his brow his way.

 

Izuku violently rolled his eyes and focused on the lesson.

 

...

 

“Come on kids. I know you can do it.” Nagisa cheered them on from where he was standing on the top of a very high cliff.

 

Everyone was grumbling about the increasing difficulty of Nagisa’s exercises but everyone complied.

 

They used everything they learned this past two weeks about parkour and the training that they underwent to be able to physically pull it off without the risk of immensely injuring themselves.

 

A few hours went by with Nagisa giving them exercises that slightly increased in difficulty and complexity.

 

“That was intense, right Midoriya?” Kuroki gasped as he sat beside Izuku who was taking deep breaths himself.

 

“Yeah.” Izuku gave him his bottle of water. “I’d like to change clothes soon.”

 

“Eh?” Kuroki said after finishing what was left of the water. “But you don’t smell though.” He leaned in and sniffed. Izuku palmed his chin without looking.

 

“Hey! That would have hurt Mido-kun.” The nickname made Izuku smile a little and he shrugged. “I knew you’d dodge that.”

 

Kuroki pouted. “Why aren’t you referring to me as Kuro-kun?” Izuku didn’t respond, laid down on the grass and just closed his eyes. He heard movement and felt the warmth beside him.

 

“It’s been just three months, huh.” Kuroki said beside him.

 

Izuku opened his eyes and saw the clouds. “Yeah.” Izuku breathed in the scent of the forest. “It felt longer though.”

 

Kuroki hummed in response. “Maybe that’s because it feels like we’re cut off from the city and we’ve just been focusing on training, studying and making better friends.” Izuku heard something bitter and sad in Kuroki’s voice as he said better friends. Izuku felt that.

 

“You’re right.” Izuku closed his eyes again and said “I like it here.” And he meant it.

 

...

 

“Predict your opponent’s moves and act accordingly. Whether you dodge or advance will be up to your judgement. Balance your pursuit of victory with your safety.” Han said as he overlooked them.

 

“Yes!” Everyone responded as they fought with their partners using rubber knives.

 

“Natsume, watch your grip on the knife!” Izuku stabbed forward Natsume as she dodged.

 

Han proceeded with giving advice to everyone fighting. Izuku stepped backward as he dodged as swift attack from Natsume.

 

Natsume Touko. 15 years old. Quirkless.

 

Izuku crossed his arms as he received a strong kick from her. He then jumped backward, changing the grip on his knife, albeit slower than he would have liked due to the scars in his hands, and somersaulted to deliver an axe kick to her shoulder. She predictably dodged backward, tripping on the pebble that Izuku saw earlier, and he smiled as he used the momentum to make a downward slash of his knife.

 

Which would have won Izuku the round but Natsume caught his wrist and quickly slashed him with her own knife.

 

They paused for a second before Natsume released him and Izuku held out his hand to help her up.

 

“Nice match Natsume-san.” Izuku said as he wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead.

 

“Yeah. You were also great there Midoriya-san.” She smiled and walked with him to the side where the other students who finished were waiting.

 

“You were both awesome Mido-kun Natsu-chan.” Kuroki greeted them as he gave them a bottle of water and a towel.

 

“Thanks Kuroki.” Said Izuku at the same time Natsume said “Thank you Kuroki-san.”

 

Said boy pouted at the use of his full last name. “I understand Natsu-chan since she’s like an ice queen but you too Mido-kun? It’s been four months my soulmate, my sunshine, my air, my–”

 

He stopped to block Izuku’s kick. “You’re so embarrassing.” Izuku sat down and Kuroki sat to his right and Natsume sat to his left.

 

“Ohhh is that a blush I see?” The boy sounded ecstatic. Izuku was saved from replying by Natsume.

 

“He was just done fighting with me, if it was you you’d be colored black and blue.” Izuku emptied the bottle and faced Natsume.

 

“Am I really that red?” He saw her shoot Kuroki with a ‘see?’ look.

 

“No Midoriya-san, you’re just catching your breath. Kuroki-san was just being delusional.” Natsume sent him a discreet wink and Izuku smiled.

 

“Oh, just the usual then.” The two smiled at each other as Kuroki voiced his indignation.

 

Soon, everyone finished with their fights and they lined up as Han began telling them the things that they did right and wrong and how they can improve.

 

“Now then, Midoriya.” Izuku looked forward and focused on their teacher. “Yes.”

 

“You’re quick on your feet. I think we’ve established that a long time ago.” A couple of shouts and mock complaints about Izuku made him scratch the back of his head with the edges of his mouth threatening to move upward.

 

“But strength is still an issue. If you’d like to focus on speed, that’s fine. You also have great awareness. You intentionally leading Natsume into tripping on that pebble were of great judgement.” There was some, especially Kuroki, that was embarrassingly cheering him on and Izuku resisted the urge to make his elbow meet with someone’s gut.

 

“However, you can’t just forgo improving your base strength in favour of your speed. That would only work on ambushes or short battles but you would feel it’s limitation during drawn out battles especially with against someone of superior strength. Of course, if you can polish your technique that would be even better and you wouldn’t need to build up that much strength unlike our other muscleheads here.” That got a couple of ‘hey!’ from some of the students.

 

“Yes sir.”

 

Han went on to the other students. Izuku felt a nudge from his right and he raised his brow at Kuroki.

 

“Some of us were thinking of going down and going to the mall to eat. You wanna come with us?”

 

Izuku shook his head. “Sorry. Maybe next time.” Izuku didn’t know how many next times he needed to say before he’s ready to go out with friends.

 

Kuroki just put his hand on Izuku’s shoulder and smiled. “That’s fine buddy. Next time.”

 

Izuku prided himself of the fact that he didn’t flinch this time.

 

...

 

“Mikami, why haven’t you submitted the report that you needed to write?”

 

The air in the classroom was tense as Tsukauchi looked over at all of them. Mikami Kou 14 years old Quirk: Arachnid just bowed his head and didn’t say anything, the antenna on his head and his eight arms slumping down.

 

“It’s only been five months but I’ve noticed that many of you are becoming full of themselves just because they’re doing well in this training. This is what? The seventh time that someone wasn’t able to pass a requirement. There are also some who aren’t listening as intently as before. Well let me tell all of you something, we don’t need attitude here. We don’t need someone skilled but is unable to follow orders. Don’t make me regret inviting any of you in this program.” Tsukauchi never raised his voice. He never furrowed his brows. But it never stopped him from delivering his point.

 

It was also the first time that he was acting like this towards the class so everyone aside from Izuku was flabbergasted.

 

_ Damn, he’s really scary.  _ Izuku quietly thought and swallowed his saliva. Even though he noticed that Tsukauchi was exaggerating how mad he was, he knew that Tsukauchi meant what he said.

 

Tsukauchi proceeded with the lesson with the class still feeling the heavy pressure of Tsukauchi’s scolding.

 

After the lesson, they waited for Tsukauchi to dismiss them but the detective just stared at them for a few seconds before sighing.

 

“I know that some, if not all of you had experienced being ostracized and/or bullied one way or another for being quirkless, for having a different appearance or for having what some call a ‘weak’ quirk.”

 

Everyone turned quiet at that. Izuku just stared straight at Tsukauchi.

 

“It’s good to use those experiences as your fuel to do better and prove them wrong.” Tsukauchi stood up and collected his things. “However, if you get full of yourselves and forget why you’re doing this in the first place then you’re all no better than the bullies that you hate so much.” Tsukauchi went out and the room was filled with silence.

 

“Who wants to have a group study session in the common room?” Izuku asked to no one in particular, but his voice reverberated in the room. Then suddenly he felt arms hugging his neck from behind.

 

“Me! Let me join that Mido-kun. My soulmate. The cream to my coffee. The–” Kuroki’s usual monologue was drowned by everyone’s outburst of confirmation.

 

“Yeah! Natsume-chan can you help me with chemistry?”

 

“Hey Mikami let’s go. You should’ve said so if you were having trouble with the report.”

 

“Thanks Yato-kun”

 

“Okay let’s go everyone! Me and Kuroki will be cooking for dinner.”

 

“Eh! I just cooked last night Kuni-chan.” Kuroki’s hold on Izuku loosened as he talked to 

 

“Well, this was your soulmate’s idea. Would you like me to make him my slave in the kitchen?”

 

Kuroki grumbled and tightened his hold on Izuku’s head.

 

“Wouldn’t you want to eat Kuroki’s food again, right Midoriya?” Kunimi Eisen 15 years old Quirk: Perfect Memory asked him. He just shrugged and told her “It’s not bad.”

 

“Fine! I’ll cook! But Mido-kun will study with me.” He pouted and Izuku rolled his eyes while some of their classmates went to Izuku and asked him to study with them which he easily agreed to.

 

They proceeded to the common room with all their materials and started studying. They started with Kuroki exclaiming “Wait for me, Mido-kun!” from the kitchen.

 

...

 

“Can we be partners for the spar in Mido-kun?”

 

Izuku was just about to answer when Karma spoke from behind them.

 

“No can do amateurs. You’ve been sparring partners in most of my classes and that may cause the two of you to form some unwanted habits while fighting.”

 

Kuroki pouted and opened his mouth to retort when Karma held his palm out and shook his head. “We’re not even gonna have a spar today. You’re all gonna fight with me.” Karma showed them a near-sadistic grin.

 

An hour into the class.

 

“What’s the matter amateurs? I thought you were all acting all high and mighty in your classes. How come no one can even lay a scratch on me?” Everyone’s groaning was the response that Karma got.

 

“Eh? Is it possible that... the amateurs are actually weak? I can’t believe it!” Karma mercilessly mocked them.

 

“Karma-sensei!” Amane Yukihiro 15 years old Quirk: Cold resistance called out to Karma from his laying position on the ground.

 

“Why are you still giving us a hard time for that? That happened a month ago! We already apologized to everyone and changed our attitudes!” Amane whined. Everyone agreed.

 

Karma just looked at them for a second before clicking his tongue. “It’s because you apologized too early.”

 

“What?!” Came everyone’s indignant shout. “Yeah. I was planning on doing this way before but all of you quickly apologized and became better. I was so frustrated and tried to hold it back but alas I can’t” Karma raised his hands in a ‘what can I do’ gesture.

 

“That’s your problem stupid Karma-sensei!” Kuroki started before everyone started hurling insults to a laughing Karma.

 

“Well, since I’m a kind teacher, I’ll make the rest of our class your free time. See ya later, amateurs!”

 

Karma’s martial arts class was the last period they had in the afternoon so they had a great amount of free time.

 

As usual, Izuku heard Kuroki first before feeling him clinging on his back. “Mido-kun! My soulmate. My universe. My world. My treasure. My–” “What?” Izuku walked easily despite someone taller than him giving him a back hug.

 

They managed to reach the door of classroom when Kuroki quietly asked “Can you come to town with us?” with a hopeful voice.

 

Izuku sighed and said “Sure.”

 

The hug tightened for a second before Kuroki exclaimed. “Yes! Yes!” Kuroki released him and stood in front of him, his excitement could be barely contained. “Thanks Mido-kun! I’ll make sure you won’t regret this!”

 

Izuku just smiled while shaking his head.

 

He may have heard the cheerful “Congratulations!” from the room but Izuku didn’t think much of it. His thoughts had been pre-occupied about how to improve his techniques and other training regimes that he can try.

 

His thoughts were also filled with other things.

 

...

 

“How was the class today?” Inko’s voice asked over the phone.

 

“It was still tiring but my body doesn’t hurt that much anymore.” Izuku cracked his neck as he said that.

 

“Well, it’s been seven months since the training program started so maybe your body is getting used to it?” She didn’t even wait for Izuku’s response when she asked again. “Oh! We’re you all able to pass the practical exam that you were supposed to have with Nagisa-sensei and Karma-sensei?”

 

Izuku felt his back throb at the reminder. “We didn’t.” Izuku was frowning again. “Those two are demons Mom I tell you.” He put special emphasis on the word demons.

 

His mother, who was already used to her son complaining about his two demonic instructors, just laughed.

 

“Oh honey, I can hear the pout in your voice. You wouldn’t like it if they went easy on all of you right?”

 

Izuku felt his eye twitching.

 

“Mom.” He started slowly. “They made us play cops and robbers within the forest.” He paused for a better effect. “For a whole day.” He emphasized every word, hoping that his agony was appropriately expressed.

 

“Even though they taught us parkour before and that we’re now familiar with the forest and the mountain, did they really expect us to outrun them? And besides that, they seem to know this forest like the back of their hands! Plus Karma is a piece of shit and Nagisa scares me.” Izuku couldn’t help the smirk in his face when he said the last bit.

 

_ Plus they wouldn’t let us use our quirks. _

 

But of course, he couldn’t say that. Besides, Izuku can see the benefits of training his body without making the quirk the central focus. His specs have also been steadily improving.

 

“Even Han-sensei thought that the condition of catching the two of them was a bit harsh for the exam. Detective Tsukauchi even felt sympathetic to us that extended the deadline for the next paper.”

 

Izuku heard his mother sigh. “Even if they’re like you should still call them sensei, right? Are you sure that they have no problem with their students addressing them like that? And why is it that it’s only Han-san that you refer to as sensei?”

 

“Because he’s the only normal instructor that we have.” He heard laughter at that. Izuku shrugged as he continued. “As I’ve said, those two are demons and Detective Tsukauchi insists that we treat each other as colleagues within the same profession so we really can’t call him sensei.”

 

Izuku remembered Tsukauchi’s face when he called him sensei. Izuku’s face must have been equally disturbed because Tsukauchi immediately gave a half-assed reason so that they wouldn’t need to call him sensei.

 

“Don’t be like that.” Inko scolded with a light tone. “I’ve already met all your instructors and they’re all good people.”

 

Inko has already interacted with all of his instructors and classmates countless times. The parents of the trainees can visit their child at any time 24/7. They are also given a room to stay in whenever they want. This program really was extravagant.

 

And even then, she hasn’t caught wind of his quirks.

 

“I refuse to dignify that with a response. I gotta go Mom. I still to finish my homework.” They both said their good nights and ended the call.

 

_ Now then... _

 

“I’m sorry for that.” Izuku put down the phone on the wide conference table. Nagisa who was sitting across him just smiled and Karma buried his nose on the smaller man’s neck while grumbling.

 

“We have the worst student in history ever.” Karma sulked as he hugged Nagisa’s waist which was awkward since they were just sitting next to each other.

 

Nagisa’s soft laughter echoed in the small conference room. “That’s too much Karma.” The laughter died down a bit as Nagisa looked like he was thinking of something. “Well, I can’t think of anyone worse from the students I taught over the years but I’m sure he’s not that bad.”

 

“Thanks.” Izuku deadpanned.

 

“Enough of that.” Tsukauchi stopped their usual exchange.

 

Izuku’s sure that Tsukauchi’s sick of listening to the kid and two kid-like adults’ banter every night but Izuku couldn’t help it if his two instructors are demons.

 

“Thanks to the information Izuku gave last time, we managed to catch an important figure in a rapidly rising villain syndicate.” Izuku saw Karma’s sit straighter with excitement in his eyes.

 

“You haven’t interrogated that person right? Can I do it? I promise it won’t end up like last time.” Karma looked like a little kid and a psychotic murderer at the same time. Izuku just rolled his eyes at that.

 

“If by last time, you mean force feeding someone with all kinds of chillies and different variations of wasabi then yes, it shouldn’t end up like that.” Tsukauchi nonchalantly said while going over the files in his hands.

 

“The station’s a bit occupied tonight with an operation so can I count on you for this Nagisa-kun?”

 

Nagisa flashed his unchanging smile and nodded. “Of course Tsukauchi-san.” Said detective seemed relieved until Nagisa further spoke.

 

“Do you need him alive?”

 

Tsukauchi looked over at Izuku with anguish in his eyes.

 

_ ‘Demons’  _ Izuku mouthed and Tsukauchi’s eye twitched. If he thought he could rely on Izuku, he was wrong.

 

_ I’m enjoying this too much. _

 

“Yes Nagisa-kun. We always need them alive.”

 

Nagisa made a humming sound and nodded. “Okay. I think I can manage that.”

 

“Why do I even... Everytime...” Tsukauchi heaved a deep sigh, possibly reaching the very depths of his soul. “You know what, I don’t care. I don’t know what the higher ups were thinking when they assigned this to me.”

 

...

 

Eight months into the program, Izuku is fairly used to his routine.

 

He would attend classes in the morning and the afternoon. He would go out with Kuroki and his friends in their free time. And in the evening, he would stay in the conference room and go through enormous amount of intelligence, gather information about criminals in his Bloody Archives, or go with Tsukauchi, Nagisa and Karma in the operations assigned to them.

 

Sometimes, it would be infiltration and intelligence gathering, sometimes it would be undercover operations and sometimes it would be offering assistance to a capture or raid.

 

Izuku may have been wrong about the training program being a hoax and serve as a cover, but he was a hundred percent right at being used by the police force. Izuku couldn’t blame them since it would be stupid to not use something as useful as Izuku’s Bloody Archives. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to know about Time Record, since Izuku was sure that they wouldn’t let Izuku go away from their grasp if they knew. Izuku would have thanked Tsukauchi about that but Izuku expected nothing less from the first adult that he trusted aside from his mother.

 

_ It wouldn’t stop me from being a little shit to him though. _

 

“Is this gonna take till the morning again?” Izuku asked from the passenger seat of Tsukauchi’s car. Karma and Nagisa were seated together at the back.

 

“Hopefully not.” Tsukauchi said as he turned to the left. “We’re just gonna offer assistance to the capture of the ringleader of that trafficking syndicate. The one that the guy Nagisa interrogated a month ago belonged to.”

 

“Oh, and I’m here to do what? Do I just watch again? I do all my work pre-operation and whenever you bring me along these operations, it’s only Nagisa and Karma that help out on the field.” Izuku knew he sounded whiny but staying in the car for what seemed like hours and then going to class the next morning and try to do well has been decreasing Izuku’s maturity meter.

 

Karma chuckled from behind him. “Well it’s nice that you’re getting used to the heavy workload and shitty hours that our detective here has, right?”

 

Izuku just grumbled and thought about how he would go about organizing on operation as big as this.

 

He only has two months left and he still doesn’t know where he would go after this.

 

...

 

“Mido-kun!” Izuku chose to take a bite on his sandwich instead of responding to Kuroki. He raised his brow as he looked at his black haired friend.

 

“I’m gonna go all the way to the police academy after this.” He smiled and Izuku just blinked at the random statement. Kuroki stayed quiet for a few seconds before he opened his mouth again.

 

“How about you?” Oddly, Izuku found his uncertain expression endearing.

 

He drank his water and shook his head at Kuroki’s question. “I honestly don’t know. We’re gonna finish next month and I still don’t know. I haven’t even filled up the form that they gave us.”

 

“Well...” Kuroki, for the first time, looked like he was hesitating to say something. “I’ll support you wherever you decide to go Mido-kun.”

 

Izuku didn’t realize that he was smiling at his friend’s meekness. “Thank you...” Izuku felt generous so he added a wink and the long awaited “Kuro-kun.”

 

The intense blush on his friend’s bright smiling face made Izuku feel warm in his chest.

 

...

 

The first month of the program was the hardest. It was the month that Izuku was most wary. It was the month that no one was comfortable with each other. It was the month that everyday their bodies were aching.

 

It was also the month that Izuku got all the answers he needed.

 

The night of the first day of the training program, Izuku was called to the conference room where all the instructors were waiting.

 

There, the first mystery was explained. The reason that nothing popped up in Tsukauchi’s entry in the archives about the training program being legitimate was because Tsukauchi also believed that it was just a hoax until the day of the opening ceremony.

 

Apparently, those in the police that knew of Izuku’s archives didn’t believe the fake limitation of it. The limitation that he can only get information on people whose face and name Izuku hadn’t seen and heard in person. They believed that Izuku already had access to information that Tsukauchi knew. They saw it for the bullshit that it was and they used Tsukauchi and lied to him to feed Izuku false information.

 

Izuku’s panicked reaction that day only served as further proof of that. 

 

That’s also one of the reasons why they decided to make use of prominent figures like Akabane Karma and Shiota Nagisa to further unnerve Izuku. They undoubtedly noticed Izuku’s distress in the morning.

 

Because even though Izuku just had a realization that day about his carelessness, he couldn’t just easily shake the tremors in his heart. He’s just not at that stage yet.

 

Aside from confirming the lies around Izuku’s Bloody Archives, the police also genuinely wanted to train Izuku and lead him away from the life of vigilantism. Whether he’d go to heroics or the police force wasn’t their concern. They just wanted Izuku in the field.

 

“That only gives me two options, heroics or the police. But what if I wanted neither? What if I wanted to have a normal life huh? Adults are always so inconsiderate.”

 

Izuku asked with a raised brow. He was desperately establishing himself as someone who they can’t underestimate.

 

Tsukauchi just answered him with a rare pat on the head and a “We all know that you want to save people. Whether you do that as a hero or as one of us is just the same to you right? So stop complaining and just enjoy this opportunity you have to be stronger.”

 

Izuku’s determination to act mature just deflated right there. He hated when Tsukauchi got serious but he was right. 

 

They talked about the arrangement that Han wouldn’t actually be in the special team composed of Izuku, Tsukauchi, Nagisa and Karma. Han would mainly be concerned with the safety of the participants. After explaining that part, Han dutifully left them to discuss the rest.

 

_ Han’s a really great guy. He’s a normal good guy. _

 

Apparently, Izuku wasn’t the only target of the program. Nagisa and Karma were also targets. These two were untouchable even by the police force and no one has any information on the two of them aside from what the pair wanted to release.

 

It took the higher ups by surprise when just a week before the training program the two said their interest with Izuku and his Bloody Archives. That’s why they quickly made preparations for the training program, hiding it from Tsukauchi himself, and made Nagisa and Karma instructors in the program.

 

They wanted to take this opportunity to use Izuku and finally get information from the untouchable pair that didn’t even bother to hide their existences and be involved in the matters of the aboveground.

 

Tsukauchi of course wasn’t prepared but Izuku had no worries.

 

However, the police just gave Izuku leverage over them and even possibly with the pair.

 

_ The information that you want is with me. And it’ll stay with me as long as I want it to. _

 

After their first talk that night, Izuku immediately created an entry of them in his archives. However when he did, Izuku’s hands trembled and he needed an entire minute to process and believe the information that his archives presented..

 

It was the first time that Izuku was close to doubting the thing he trusted the most.

 

“How are any of these even real?”

 

The first month was the worst for Izuku and it was just getting started.

 

...

 

The last month is the worst for Izuku because everything was getting close to the end.

 

The training, the studying, the friendships, the late night operations and intel gathering. Izuku didn’t know when he got so used to them but now that the program was so close to the end, Izuku couldn’t believe how attached he’d become.

 

“So... this is the last night that I’ll be with everyone in an operation and it’s not even a hard one.” Izuku grumbled as he slurped some noodles.

 

“A kid like you shouldn’t have to go through some real action. It’s enough that you’ve been exposed to it to the extent that you had.” Nagisa said before he finished his first bowl and then proceeded to order another one.

 

“Yeah. Anyone would die to be in our position right now, eating in a 24/7 open noodle shop with the best spicy ramen in town. Who wouldn’t be envious?” A red lipped Karma smilingly said.

 

“Well, I think this is appropriate. We can’t celebrate like this infront of the other participants.” Tsukauchi looked contented as he ate.

 

“Hmmm I guess this isn’t that bad.” Izuku shrugged as he finished his first bowl and ordered the same food as Karma. “I’m gonna regret this.”

 

Izuku woke up in the morning and he still regretted it. He still felt the need to drink two full glasses of water in the kitchen.

 

The rest of the morning went normal enough however Izuku couldn’t help but notice Kuroki’s uneasiness.

 

The answer to that was given when he invited Izuku out into the forest during lunch.

 

“What happened Kuro-kun? Did your parents call again? Is your sister in the hospital again.” Izuku asked worriedly since the last time it happened, Kuroki was really distraught and Izuku didn’t know what to do.

 

Of course, he could have just updated his archives but these past few weeks Izuku found it hard for himself to update the entries of his friends and classmates. He knew that they were all keeping secrets of their own but Izuku found out that he didn’t mind as much as he did ten months ago.

 

“No Mido-kun it’s not about that but thanks for asking anyway.” Kuroki gave a sheepish smile. “Can I ask you again Mido-kun whether you’re going to UA or the police academy?” Kuroki looked timid, scared almost and it worried Izuku to no end but instead of answering his question with a question, Izuku just answered his question.

 

“I’m going to U.A Kuro-kun.” Izuku hopes his determination was heard by Kuroki. And from the change in his friend’s gaze, the straightening of his back and the small smile that adorned his face, Kuroki didn’t even need to ask why.

 

“I’ve always had a hunch.” Kuroki sighed deeply. “Oh man, I really hoped that we went to the same high school.” He pouted and Izuku couldn’t help but pat his head.

 

“Me too Kuro-kun.”

  
  


They were quiet for a few seconds. 

  
  


Kuroki was just staring at him until, “I like you Midoriya Izuku”

 

Izuku was... Izuku was dumbfounded. He didn’t really know what he needed to say so he just blurted what first came to his mind.

 

“Me too.” Izuku didn’t know if he still breathed but he knew that the smile that was on Kuroki’s face was beautiful. “I like you too, Kuroki Tetsuro.”

 

Their faces were getting closer and closer and Izuku was just about to close his eyes when he heard a pair of evil giggles and some whispering.

 

“Ngfufufufufufu.”

 

“Do you see that Nagisa?” “Yes Karma.” “That’s what you call youth.” “Oh, is it? But I thought there was supposed to be a misunderstanding first, then a third party comes in and then more misunderstandings then another person appears then–” “Shh shh Nagisa, they might notice.”

 

Kuroki couldn’t hold it anymore and he shouted. “Stupid teachers! Stop spying on your students for gossip material!” He ran towards their hiding spot with a flushed face.

 

Izuku wasn’t any better himself but he just smiled.

 

_ A boyfriend huh? I wasn’t expecting this. _

 

Izuku laughed to himself as he saw Kuroki chasing a laughing Nagisa and Karma.

 

Just in a few weeks he’ll be a high school student and everything in this place will be just a precious memory. However, he was sure that his relationship with Kuroki will just start from this point on. And his relationship with Nagisa and Karma are just starting.

 

_ After all, aside from those two, I’m the only person alive that knows their secret. _

 

Izuku noticed that it didn’t bring the superiority that knowing brought him before. It brought Izuku a weight, a burden, the price that Izuku had to bear for someone bearing the Innocence. And he’s sure that the price will just get heavier from here on out.

 

“Hey Mido-kun! My soulmate! The love of my life! Stop standing there and help me catch these gossipers!”

 

_ I’ll pay any price to save everything precious to me.  _ “Just keep chasing them!” Izuku started running. “I’ll go around place x and we’ll trap them!”

 

“Ohhh codenames for some crucial positions. Nice.” Karma had the audacity to praise them.

  
“Wait till we catch the two of you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel really guilty about my other fic but I'm really dry on what to next there. I hope this serves as compensation in the meantime haha.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. You can leave a comment or kudos if you likey likey lmao


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